An Uchiha's Flame Burns
by Tyrolite
Summary: When Orochimaru attacks Team 7 during the Chūnin Exams, he doesn't expect someone to interrupt. Meet Uchiha Ryūko, older sister to Sasuke and younger sister to Itachi. She only has one goal in life: protect her little brother. What she doesn't count on is him becoming a missing ninja. Now, she has a new goal: drag him back to Konoha... maybe kick some ass on the way. Fem!OC/Ino.
1. Familiar Face

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs_

**"Jutsu."**

'Thinking.'

**Chapter 1: Familiar Face**

The Chuunin Exam was expected to have a variety of dangerous and unknown shinobi taking part this year in Konoha, however the sight that greeted Team 7 when they walked through the double doors still shocked them. It was almost as if every pair of eyes in the room were looking straight through them and into their souls, trying to see whether or not they were worthy ninja or just easy targets. Even though he had an almost permanent glare on his face, Sasuke Uchiha was nervous being around all the older ninja, especially because this was his first time taking the exam. Naruto and Sakura were no different, both of them had a couple of drops of sweat rolling down their faces when they sensed a small dose of killing intent.

Practically sensing the team's fear, Team 8 and 10 were quick to come to their rescue with Ino latching onto the Uchiha and Kiba making jokes at Naruto's expense. The only person who was spared from annoyances was Sakura who was instead making light conversation with Hinata. Soon enough, a man called Kabuto came to introduce himself. He offered information on the other participators of the exam in the form of cards and Sasuke was eager to ask about a specific two.

After Kabuto had finished explaining what Rock Lee and Gaara were capable of, three Sound ninja appeared almost out of nowhere and attacked him and just when one of them supposedly missed, Kabuto fell to his knees and began to cough violently. Despite everyone silently looking at the group of Genin at the back of the room, there was a certain pair of black orbs staring intently at a specific team, almost as if they were observing them to see what their next move would be.

Just then, a large amount of smoke appeared behind the group of Genin and when it dispersed, fifteen or so Chuunin and one man, Morino Ibiki, were revealed.

"Alright maggots, let me get this straight. While you are taking part in my part of this exam, you will follow my rules: no violence, no shit talking and no crying. If you break one of these rules, you fail. Do I make myself clear?" no one in the room responded, they just stared at him, "Good. My name is Morino Ibiki, your proctor for part one of the Chuunin Exams and your worst nightmare."

* * *

True to his word, the first part of the exams were the worst nightmares of some people in the room, specifically the blond Uzumaki. Naruto wasn't known to do very well in written tests, nor was he very good at thinking, so when the nature of the first part of the exam was revealed, he almost had an emotional breakdown. The rest of Team 7 were not having as much trouble as their Jinchuriki team mate. Sasuke had figured out almost immediately that they were supposed to cheat, but not get caught, therefore he activated his Sharingan and began to copy the hand movements of the person in front of him. Sakura did not need to cheat as she practically had an entire library of knowledge in her head and was speeding through the test with no problems whatsoever. The Uzumaki just had to put all of his luck on the mysterious tenth question.

"Time's up! Drop your pencils," Ibiki yelled. "Before I give you the final question, I must let you know that the first nine questions mean nothing."

"WHAT?" Naruto shouted. The water in a glass on the desk at the front actually rippled slightly from the vibrations of his yelling. A number of people in the room wondered if he could turn that into a jutsu by adding chakra to his vocal cords.

Once the ringing in Ibiki's ears went away, he continued. "Like I said, the first nine questions mean nothing, whether or not you pass or fail depends on your answer to the tenth and final question. I must warn you though, because if you fail, you will _never_ be able to take part in future Chuunin exams." Teams began to leave the room almost instantly, however no one from the Konoha 12 had raised their hand yet. Different thoughts were running through their head. The thought that the rookie's were all having were whether or not their team were going to be able to get through the rest of the exam.

It was most likely that the second part would be combat oriented and therefore Team 7 would have the best advantage. It was obvious that with Sasuke's taijutsu, Naruto's ninjutsu and Sakura's brains and support that they would be able to take on Team 8 and Team 10 in a team vs. team fight. Team 8 were more suited to tracking with Shino's bugs, Hinata's eyes and Kiba's senses while Team 10 were more suited for espionage missions as they had one taijutsu tank and two members with either slow or restricted jutsu. They were the most disadvantaged.

If it did come to a team vs. team fight, Team 10 didn't know what they would rather take on, a Hyuuga's monstrous chakra blocking taijutsu backed up by a beast and a swarm of insects or an Uchiha's burning fire backed up with one hundred or so clones and someone constantly making holes in their guard with kunai and shuriken.

Across the room, Sakura Haruno was conflicted. On one hand, she had two team mates that could cover her battle weakness while she directed their attacks with her strategies, while on the other hand all three of them might not be ready for this.

**BANG**

Everyone turned to look at the Kyuubi Jinchuriki when he slammed his hand down on his desk and stood up. "I don't care whether or not you stop me from becoming a Chuunin, because I've come too far to back down now! I will become Hokage one day, no matter what anyone says, and no one will keep me from that. Not a pointless test, not a stupid rank, and definitely not_ you_!"

The short speech made an impact on the remaining teams. Were the older ninjas in the room about to let a kid in a stupid orange jumpsuit show them up? No way! He was dead last in everything except being able to sneak past ANBU to deface the Hokage monument. One by one hands that were already raised began to fall down and Ibiki smirked when he realised that he couldn't make anyone else drop out unless he threatened them with their lives.

"Is that it then? You are all ready to risk your ninja careers?" most people in the room silently nodded their head. "Very well then, you all pass."

Everyone stared at him with wide eyes. "What about the tenth question?" asked Kiba.

"That was the tenth question," there were then a few 'oh's.

**CRASH**

A brown and purple ball smashed through the window as a banner was hung on the back wall with kunai. It read: 'Second Test's Proctor: Mitarashi Anko'.

"Alright maggots, my name is Mitarashi Anko and I'm gonna be your proctor for this second test," silence followed her outburst. The woman then did a quick head count, "Ibiki, you let this many through? Your test was either too easy or you're going soft."

"There's that, or there was a stronger batch of participants this year," he specifically looked at Naruto.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter cause when I'm through with them, they'll at least be halved."

_'Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun.'_

Anko continued, "Well then, I'll tell your squad leaders where you should meet me tomorrow morning, dismissed, maggots."

* * *

"Let me explain the rules to you. This forest behind me is called the Forest of Death, also known as my playground. All you have to do to beat this test is get to the tower ten kilometres from here, but there are also some requirements. One: you have to have all three of your members, if one of them is dead or unable to continue, you're out. Two: you must have both of these scrolls," Anko lifted up a white scroll and a black scroll. "Each team will be given either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll and it is up to you how you obtain the other. Three: you only have five days to complete the test, and no, you can't quit halfway through."

"Five days?!" shouted Choji. "What about food?"

"Look all around you, there's food everywhere, but also watch out for things that see you as food."

Naruto frowned at that. "'But also watch out for things that see you as food'," Naruto repeated the woman's words in a mock voice. "Yeah right! Just watch me lady, I'll ace this test with no problems!"

A kunai whizzed past him and left a deep cut on his cheek, also slicing the hair of a woman not too far behind him. Anko then appeared behind him with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his bleeding cheek.

"Tough guy, eh? Guys like you usually end up being the first to have their blood soak the ground of that forest," just as she was about to lick his blood off of her finger, she reached down into her pouch and pulled out another kunai. She twisted her body around to face a female grass ninja with her tongue sticking out towards her, her kunai being held by it.

"Here, your kunai," said the ninja. Her voice had a slight hint of a hiss to it.

"Why thank you grass ninja, but know that if you want to stand that close behind me again, be prepared for me to stick a kunai in your eye."

"I apologise, the sight of blood and your kunai going past me at such a proximity and speed got me excited."

When the ninja returned to her team, Anko walked back to her place in front of the large group of Genin. "Before this test begins, I need you to all to sign a consent form that says if you die, it's not my responsibility. You can hand your forms in at the stand over to my right for your scroll."

* * *

The Genin were now all in their teams standing in front of a gate each.

Team 8 were at Gate 16. Kiba was spouting off cocky, but also encouraging words to his team mates while Hinata and Shino stood next to him, both smiling slightly. The two knew that even though they were nowhere near the strongest, they would still try their best to make it.

Team 10 were at Gate 27. As always, Shikamaru was complaining about how all this was a drag, but since they had to do it, they should go after those who they believed to be the weakest, which was Naruto. This was ignored, however, as Choji was counting the amount of food he had brought along with him while Ino scolded him for taking up space that could have been used for weapons.

Team 7 were at Gate 12. Like Kiba, Naruto believed that this part of the test would be a piece of cake, and any kind of attack that was sent his way, he would "send it right back twice as hard". On the outside, Sakura looked to be annoyed with the blond, however on the inside she was wholeheartedly agreeing. Sasuke merely glared at the gate in front of him.

Gaara's team were at Gate 6. Kankuro, the boy's brother, was uneasy. He and Temari, his sister, would be in this deadly forest with Gaara for five days. Forget about all the beasts and other ninja, his brother might just kill him if he was bored. Temari was feeling the same thing although she did a good job of hiding it. The Jinchuriki himself didn't care about the things that were in the forest, nor the other ninja. All he cared about was spilling the Uchiha boy's blood for mother, and finding out who the ominous chakra he sensed belonged to. It made his blood boil. There was also an unknown team he passed on the way to Gate 6 that he didn't like. They were at Gate 3 and something about one of them made him angry, he wasn't sure whether or not it was because of how similar she looked to the Uchiha or because of something else. Perhaps she was the other Jinchuriki he sensed? No, he would have felt it when he passed her. Maybe it wasn't her at all, maybe it was her team mate that had that grin on his face, or the Hyuuga she was with. Gaara never liked clan ninja.

* * *

Less than five minutes into the exam, Naruto left his team mates to go pee in a bush, however when he came back, Sasuke punched him in the face, sending him backwards into a rock. "Sasuke-kun! What was that for? Sure he's annoying, but there wasn't any need for that!" Sakura cried.

The Uchiha ignored her and went after Naruto again but Naruto dodged and jumped up onto a tree branch. "Yeah, what the hell Sasuke?"

His safety didn't last for long. Sasuke jumped up onto the branch and roundhouse kicked him, closely followed by a knee to his stomach and another punch to his face. "Don't you see, Sakura? He isn't Naruto. It's a fairly bad henge because Naruto's right handed and therefore he keeps his kunai pouch on his right leg, not his left. Also, before the test started, Naruto got a cut on his cheek."

'Naruto' released the henge, revealing himself to be an Amegakure ninja wearing some sort of gas mask. He threw a shuriken at Sakura who managed to block it in time with a kunai, then she threw that kunai at him, making him dodge to the side right into Sasuke's foot. The Uchiha kicked the enemy in the side however he quickly recovered and jumped up into a tree. Sasuke gave chase and when he saw Naruto lying on the ground tied up and struggling to get out of his bonds, he yelled back at Sakura. The girl quickly jumped up into a tree over her blond team mate and tossed down a kunai which cut through the rope tying him down, also waking him up.

The next thing she did was throw another kunai towards Sasuke when she realised that the Ame-nin was coming for him. Sasuke used a variation of the tree climbing exercise to catch the kunai with his foot and toss it towards the enemy. As expected, he twisted midair it avoid it, however that gave Team 7's remaining team mate an opening to launch a kick at him, sending him right into Sasuke's kunai which stabbed him in his right shoulder. Realising that he made the mistake of underestimating the rookies by coming along, he quickly threw down a couple of smoke bombs so he could flee, and unfortunately, he was successful.

A few minutes later, after deciding on a password to make sure that incident wouldn't happen again, Team 7 were attacked by a large blast of wind. It threw the Genin away from each other, especially Naruto who was sent far enough away that he was unable to even hear his team mates if they got into trouble

Sasuke and Sakura recovered and repeated the code to each other, word for word, however the kunoichi that gave Anko back her kunai stood in front of them. "Hello, Sasuke-kun," even though she looked like a regular ninja, she radiated power that shouldn't belong to a Genin. She smirked, and in an instant, two kunai were sent towards Sasuke and Sakura, hitting their foreheads and killing them instantly. The sensation of death soon went away when they realised that what just happened wasn't a genjutsu, it was merely the woman's killing intent.

_'This is really bad. Who is she?'_ Sakura thought as she looked over at Sasuke. The boy looked to be just as scared as she was. She looked back at the Kusa-nin just in time to see her throw real kunai towards them this time, however she couldn't do anything about it. She was paralyzed with fear. When the kunai were about to hit, Sasuke drew his own and slashed his leg, the pain distracting him from his fear long enough to grab his team mate and leap into a tree. When they looked down to see what the woman was going to do next, she merely smirked up at them and brought out her Earth scroll. Her smirk grew wider when she saw the look of surprise of their faces.

"You would love to get this scroll, wouldn't you? It would go so nicely with your Heaven scroll," to their shock and disgust, the woman opened her mouth and her tongue reached out to grab it. Without even gagging, she swallowed the scroll whole. "By the end of this, one of us will have both scrolls."

* * *

"Ouch! That hurt, damn it!" the blond of Team 7 finally stopped sailing away from his team when he hit a tree. "Where the hell did Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme go?" he asked himself as he looked around him. Trees possibly bigger than the Hokage tower surrounded him, they were so thick that they blocked out most of the sunlight. There was a vile scent that smelled of rotten meat and burnt wood. Naruto then heard something, however it wasn't his team mates coming to save him. He turned around to see a very, very large snake staring down at him. The snake then lunged for him with its mouth wide open.

_'I was eaten...'_ thought Naruto. He clenched his teeth together and pushed against the snake's insides when it tried to digest him. "Oh no you don't, this future Hokage isn't going down to the likes of you! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" around forty to fifty clones appeared, just enough to make the snake tear into two. Naruto picked himself up off of the ground after that and made a sound of disgust when he realised that he was covered in snake bits. "Ew. Alright, clean myself up, then go find Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme."

* * *

Sakura was struggling against Sasuke's hand that was currently covering her mouth. After he had saved them both, he travelled further into the trees and away from the woman, however now a large snake was behind them and it looked like it would strike at any moment. When the snake hissed, Sakura pulled away from her team mate's hand with all her might and screamed, "Sasuke-kun! Look out!"

The Uchiha turned around just in time to see the snake's open mouth just a few metres away. He quickly jumped away onto another branch while Sakura landed on the one opposite him. Sasuke looked back to see the snake break the thick branch in half with its jaws. He clenched his teeth and threw a few shuriken at its head, killing it instantly. The snake's body fell to the branch below it and its blood dripped down the tree. The two members of Team 7 thought it was over until the Kusa-nin tore a hole in the snake and climbed out, grinning like a maniac.

"Very well done, Sasuke-kun," the woman revealed the lower half of her body to be like a snake's as she wrapped around the same tree Sasuke was on, shooting after him with her mouth open. Sasuke yelled out in shock however the woman didn't get very far. A chokuto sword landed in front of her, half of the blade stuck in the tree. It's handle had no guard and was coloured dark green with a thin black stripe running vertically down it. At first, when the woman was stopped Sakura and Sasuke believed that Naruto was responsible, however when the saw the weapon, they realised that it wasn't their loud mouth blond. Sakura had never seen the weapon before, however Sasuke knew it all too well. The three of them looked up to see a girl one or two years older than the rookies, it possible that she was in the same academy class as Neji, Lee and Tenten.

Sakura was shocked, it was like she was looking at an older, female Sasuke. She had her hair tied into a tight pony tail at the base of her head with three thick locks of hair falling over the front of her face and eyes that were so dark they were almost black, just like Sasuke. She wore a sleeveless mesh shirt that went halfway up her neck and over that was a black hooded short sleeved jacket that cut off halfway down her stomach. The hooded jacket was dark green on the inside, matching the green of her sword's handle. Her trousers were coal coloured and they were tucked into bandages halfway down her calf with a black cloth hanging down the left side of her hip, ending mid-thigh. There was also a black cloth wrapped around most of her forearms with a dark grey metal plate attached to the top, extending out onto the back of her hands. She wore her kunai pouch on her right thigh and her headband on her right upper arm. The sheathe for her sword was strapped to her back. The Haruno vaguely remembered seeing her at the first exam, however she only got a glance before Ibiki appeared so she never noticed the similarity between her and her team mate.

Sasuke, of course, had a completely different reaction. He looked at the girl with annoyance in his eyes as his Uchiha pride appeared, completely forgetting about the Kusa-nin below him.

_'I don't need help, especially not from her.'_

"Oh? And who might we have here?" the woman was surprised to see somewhere other than Uzumaki Naruto come to stop her, hell, she would have been less surprised to Anko or even some ANBU, but never another Genin. "I thought my team mates were stopping people from interfering."

"Your team mates are a little bit busy at the moment with mine," the girl spoke with a harsh, but still slightly feminine voice.

The Kusa-nin chuckled, "Your team mates better watch out then."

"Don't underestimate them, Haru and Daichi are no pushovers."

"Haru and Daichi? Do you mean Nakahara Haru from a civilian family and Hyuuga Daichi from the Hyuuga clan? If so, then you must be Uchiha Ryūko of Team 4, your sensei is Inoue Hideyoshi and you are fifteen years old, as is your Hyuuga friend, however the other one is fourteen," the woman said this without thinking, like she had memorised the information. Ryūko's eyes narrowed.

_'Judging by her expression, Kabuto's information was correct, this is Sasuke-kun's older sister. Kukuku, this will prove to be interesting.'_

_'Uchiha? Sasuke has a sister? I've never seen her before yesterday.'_

"Ryūko! Get out of here, I can handle her myself!" shouted Sasuke, in truth, he wasn't so sure of that. The woman had proven to be a very powerful opponent, possibly more powerful than Kakashi, however the boy's pride blinded him.

"Is that so, Sasuke-kun? Well then, prove it!" the Kusa-nin travelled past the blade and further up the tree towards the younger Uchiha, however Ryūko landed behind her, and grabbing her blade, she ran up after the enemy. Sasuke jumped back threw two kunai at her, hoping to land at least one on her to slow her down, but they both missed and Ryūko had to deflect them with her blade instead. Sasuke got angry, not at the Kusa-nin or his sister, but at himself. There Ryūko goes, running _after_ the enemy, not _away_ like he is. How is she braver than he is? She's only just less than two years older than him! The woman jumped off of the tree with a kunai drawn in front of her, ready to get the Uchiha that was still in the air, unable to dodge. Fortunately, she was the one that had to move when the sword came after her and was once again stuck in a tree. Sasuke landed on a branch in front of the blade while Ryūko landed next to him and the third member of the fight stood on a tree opposite them. "You seem to like throwing that blade of yours around."

The female Uchiha stayed silent, the glare never disappearing from her face. There was something about this woman, something that wasn't right. There was no way she was a Genin, she's far too deadly. Sasuke made a noise of anger and jumped in front of his sister, his hands rapidly going through seals, "**Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" a large fireball came out of Sasuke's mouth, heading straight for the Kusa-nin. She merely smirked and let the jutsu hit her. The flames spread to the tree she was standing on and smoke surrounded the area. Ryūko, Sasuke and Sakura waited patiently to see the results of the jutsu.

_'There's no way she could have survived that, right? I mean, it was a direct hit, no matter how powerful you are, you can't survive it,_' thought the Haruno. She laughed nervously in her head, even though there was doubt in her heart.

_'That'll teach her to mess with an Uchiha elite,'_ Sasuke thought. He was acting cocky once again.

_'This still feels wrong. Just who is she really? Was it wise for me to come here alone?'_ Ryūko was beginning to regret not staying with her team mates to help defeat the other two so that they could face this woman together.

The smoke cleared and all three of the Genin's eyes widened in shock, the woman's face had peeled off in places, like it had been melted off, however her clothes remained untouched. Underneath the skin was another face, and from what they could see, a much paler one with purple marks above her eyes that were similar to a snake's.

"Kukuku. That was an impressive fireball, Sasuke-kun, however it didn't do anything that I did not allow. Let's see how well you do against my friend," the woman- no, man's voice changed into something deeper and more sinister. He lifted up his sleeve to reveal a black tattoo on his foreman, he then bit his thumb so that it began to bleed and he swiped it down the tattoo. His hands went through some seals before he shouted, "**Kushiyose no Jutsu!**" a snake larger than the previous one appeared. It was easily thicker and possibly longer than any of the trees in the forest, and the man stood on top of it like it was his pet. Just before it attacked, there was a shout from above.

"Hey, Snake Guy! Who do you think you are, picking on my team like that?" it was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

"Took you long enough, dobe! Where were you?" shouted Sasuke.

"Oh, I was just making myself a new snake skin purse, and I'll do the same to this guy here!"

_'This is the guy that shouted out that speech in the first part of the exam. What the hell is he doing? I knew he was stupid, but I didn't know he had it this bad,'_ Ryūko did an anime sweat drop at the orange clad boy's sudden appearance.

"So you managed to escape then. No matter, you can be food for this snake instead," the snake's tail hit the branch Naruto's was standing on from below and he was sent through multiple branches until he hit a stronger one that stopped his ascent. He began to fall towards the snake's mouth, seemingly unconscious from the multiple hits taken. Sasuke and Sakura cried out his name but they could only watch as their team mate got closer and closer to death. Just when all seemed lost for the boy, he opened his now red eyes and turned midair to face the snake.

"Take this!" Naruto landed on the snake's and pushed off with all his strength, knocking the creature's head back a bit and shocking the man on top. He had not expected this power from the Genin, let alone someone known for lacking certain ninja skills. The Uzumaki pushed off from a tree and went back in to attack. He landed punch after punch on the snake's nose, however they proved to be ineffective. The snake batted him away with its tongue but that didn't stop him, he just pushed off from another tree and attacked again. Instead of the snake attacking this time, the man held out his hand and blew out a stream of fire from his mouth. It hit Naruto and with a yell, he fell, hitting branches on his way down. The man knew exactly what he was now, and he didn't need him getting in the way of his plans.

"Now that your friend is out of the way, let's see what you can do, Sasuke-kun," the snake's head reared back before going in for the kill. Sasuke was once again paralyzed with fear, he couldn't move. Seeing this, Sakura shook her head and pulled out a kunai, jumping tree to tree hoping to get Sasuke away like he had done for her minutes ago, however there was no way she would get there in time. Ryūko jumped in front of her brother and raised her sword in a defensive position. There was no time to get away, the snake would just follow, so she needed to stand her ground and fight. When the snake was just about to make contact, an orange blur appeared in front of it and the snake stopped. Naruto had two kunai stuck in the snake's nose, holding it back. The Uzumaki looked up, red eyes staring behind Ryūko and right into Sasuke's eyes.

"What's the matter, Scaredy-cat?" the words spoken to Naruto on their first C-rank mission were repeated to Sasuke. A tongue then wrapped itself around Naruto's arms and stomach, lifting him up into the air above the snake and in front of the enemy.

_'I see now, when an intense anger is inside you, some of the Kyuubi's chakra is released,'_ the tongue then lifted up the Genin's shirt, however his back faced his fellow Genin, therefore they could not see the seal on his stomach. _'The seal that keeps him caged within you has appeared. Well then, I'll just have to do something about that. __**Gogyō Fūin!**__' _purple flames appeared on the tips of the man's fingers as he slammed them onto the boy's seal. Naruto gave out a cry of pain as the seal on his stomach changed. Sakura appeared on the branch next to Sasuke and Ryūko.

"Sasuke-kun, we have to do something!" Sasuke was unable to acknowledge her presence, he was too shocked to do anything other than stare in disbelief at what was happening in front of him, "Sasuke-kun!" seeing that her crush was unable to do anything, she looked at the girl that she knew nothing about, however she got almost the exact same reaction. Eyes narrowing, Sakura threw a couple of shuriken and kunai at the man, hoping it would do _something_, however he just stepped to the side and gave her a half-smile.

Naruto's eyes turned back into their usual sapphire blue, however he soon fell unconscious as he was dropped. Sakura tried to pull out another kunai to throw and hopefully pin Naruto's clothing to the tree with so he didn't fall to his death, however she had used the last of her tools on trying to get the man to stop. Before she could jump after her team mate, the female Uchiha's sword made a loud 'thud' sound when it went through the Jinchuriki's jacket and into the tree.

"What's wrong with you, Sasuke-kun? Sure Naruto's a pest, but at least he's doing something! At least he's not a coward!" Sakura's words hit something within Sasuke. A memory appeared within his mind, the words of the man he needed to kill. With a newfound strength, Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing his Sharingan. Suddenly, the snake disappeared in a puff of smoke and the man landed on a branch. Sasuke pulled out a kunai placed it between his teeth.

_'Sakura, Naruto... Ryūko, if I don't have the courage to face this demon, then how could I ever face Him?!'_ Sasuke ran towards his enemy, jumped into the air and threw two kunai at him. The Kusa-nin dodged the kunai thrown at him and lifted up his arms to block the incoming kicks and punches thrown at him. He and Sasuke engaged in a taijutsu battle. Ryūko looked at her younger brother and slightly nodded her head before heading towards the Uzumaki so that she could retrieve her sword.

The man was running around Sasuke, ducking and going around branches to try and make the boy lose sight of him, however the Uchiha's Sharingan was able to keep up with his every move. Fireballs, big and small were sent to every area where the Kusa-nin was, therefore he was unable to stop, not even for a moment. It wasn't until Sasuke's failed variation of Lee's signature move that things began to turn on him. The Kusa-nin was now landing the hits and Sasuke was unable to block them, he was only able to either dodge them or just get hit by them.

The male Uchiha fell onto his knees when he was kicked into a tree. "Such a shame, I was hoping for a better performance from an Uchiha. Oh well, you started off promising, so you'll do," the man made a hand seal as his canine teeth grew longer and sharper. His neck also grew and he lunged towards Sasuke, aiming for his neck. Before he could get very far, the sword that had stopped him before almost sliced his neck open when it landed in front of him. _'Oh, not again.'_

Uchiha Ryūko landed in front of him and grabbed her sword by its handle, however before she could pull it out, a snake came up from a hole in the branch and tried to bite her hand. Ryūko jumped away from the blade as the snake wrapped it's body into a coil around it and instead pulled out a kunai in each hand.

"I suppose I'll have to fight a second Uchiha today."

"First of all, who are you and what do you want?"

"Questions first, action later? Very well then, my name is Orochimaru, and you'll find out what I want soon enough," Orochimaru ran towards her and pulled out the girl's blade on the way. Ryūko was forced to defend herself against her own sword when the Snake Sannin attacked. He was very skilled at using a blade, most likely better than her so it became increasingly difficult to block his strikes. Ryūko did multiple back flips to get away from him and create some distance between them so she could use a jutsu, however he was also faster than her and could catch up in no time. Ryūko soon gave up on her plan and decided to attack him head-on with her kunai. Even though he was able to block her every strike, she was at least out of the defensive zone and into the attacking zone. When his back hit a tree, he had no choice but to jump away from her, and this gave her the distance she needed. The female Uchiha went through the appropriate hand seals and shouted out the Uchiha's signature jutsu, "** Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" the fireball went towards Orochimaru at a high speed and he noted within his mind that it was slightly bigger and faster than Sasuke's own. The man was still able to dodge it, however, and jump off of a branch and onto another. He tried to do the same trick he did with Sasuke and make the girl lose sight of him, however he didn't realise that she had just activated her own Sharingan. Her left eye had two tomoe while the right was a fully matured Sharingan with three tomoe. She threw the kunai she had towards the place she predicted he would be but it was easy enough for him to block them with the sword.

He smiled and jumped down in front of her, "Well, well Ryūko-chan, it seems like you were hiding something from me," the girl glared at him and brought out two more kunai and ran at him. With her Sharingan active, she was able to see his movements more clearly and therefore was able fight against him better. Because Orochimaru was holding back as he didn't want to end up killing her by accident, the girl was able to disarm him and get her own sword back. "You certainly are a delight, Ryūko-chan. You have almost two matured Sharingan and strong fire jutsu, you and your brother truly are Uchiha. This gift I'm about to give you has a one in ten chance of survival, so to double the odds of me getting what I want, I'll give it to you and your brother," Orochimaru then created a clone that went after the weakened Sasuke while his own neck and teeth once again grew longer. Ryūko growled and jumped to the side, hoping to get around him and stop the clone, however he revealed his true speed by easily getting in front of her and kicking her back down to the ground.

The Snake Sannin kicked the sword out of her hand, knocked her onto her back and stood on her stomach with one foot, powerful enough to keep her down but not enough to do any internal damage. His head reached down and roughly bit the left side of her neck and after a few seconds, he pulled back. She screamed in pain as a strange seal appeared just above the wound; it consisted of three black tomoe that went around in a circle.

"Here is the gift that I offered you," Ryūko could barely understand him through the pain she was going through as she gripped the area he bit tightly with her hand. "Soon enough, you and Sasuke-kun will seek me out, looking for the power that only I can give you." Orochimaru wasn't one hundred percent sure about the female Uchiha going to him for power, but he was sure on Sasuke. He knew that the boy wanted revenge for his clan's demise, but before today, he barely knew about the girl in front of him. Of course, most people knew that there were more than two Uchiha children, but Itachi was famous for killing his clan while Sasuke was famous for being a child genius, nowhere near as strong as Itachi was, but still a genius. This middle child had never stood out. She was never considered a 'genius', just a slightly above average student in the ninja academy. Nothing worth getting interested in.

Orochimaru could then sense at least three people rapidly approaching their location. After Ryūko and Naruto's sudden appearance, Orochimaru decided to send a few snakes into the trees around them to look out for more ninja, and if they did spot some, like now, he would immediately be alerted when the snake's sent out a chakra spike.

"It's been fun, really, but I must go. Good luck in the exam, Ryūko-chan," when Orochimaru had finished talking, the clone had as well and they both disappeared into the ground at the same time. When the top of their heads disappeared, the team mates of the two Uchiha's arrived. Sakura had found Naruto on a tree near the area where he was pinned by the sword and now had him slung over her shoulder. She placed him down next to Sasuke and checked the Uchiha for any injuries. Sakura had seen what the Snake Sannin did to him and therefore wasn't shocked when she saw the bite wound on his neck. She looked up and spotted two boys inspecting Ryūko in the same manner she was, however she noticed one of them, the Hyuuga, had his Byakugan activated. The clan member had the traditional long, dark hair tied at the end as well as the eyes. Clothes wise, he had a tight, dark brown sleeveless tank top that showed that he trained hard as well as detached baggy sleeves of the same colour that started at his upper arm and ended just past his wrists. He had light brown shorts the same length as Sasuke's, bandages running up his legs and black shinobi shoes, like Ryūko's. He had weapon pouches on his hips and his headband was tied around his forehead. He must be the Hyuuga that Orochimaru was talking about when Ryūko first arrived: Hyuuga Daichi.

As for the other boy, he had spiked up pale blonde hair, a shade or two lighter than Ino's, light green eyes and a dark purple top with 3/4 length sleeves. On top of that was a charcoal coloured chest plate with shoulder pads. He also wore black trousers that were rolled up to just below his knees and dark blue shinobi shoes. Strapped to his lower back were two Kamas and on his hands were plain black fingerless gloves. Like the Hyuuga, he had weapon pouches on his hips and his headband on his forehead, however the metal plate was facing the right hand side. He must be the one from the civilian family: Nakahara Haru.

When the boys finished inspecting their team mate, they turned to Sakura. It was the Hyuuga that spoke, "What happened to our team mate? I assume that you didn't do it as your friend has the same mark and same foreign chakra spreading throughout his system."

Seeing that she was clearly outnumbered and outmatched, Sakura explained the fight, Ryūko's appearance and what Orochimaru did to her. It was then the other boy's turn to speak, "I see, so what you're saying is, this Orochimaru guy gave Ryūko a Hickey of Doom?" Daichi glared at Haru.

"You idiot, we have no idea what this could do to her, we don't even know if she will live, and you're _making jokes?_"

"Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

"The mood shouldn't be lightened when our team mate could be in danger. Does she still have the scroll?" Haru reached into Ryūko's leg pouch and pulled out an Earth scroll, "Good. Take that and pick up Ryūko, we're leaving," the Hyuuga turned around but before he could walk away, he turned his head back around to look at Sakura. He noticed her worried expression and activated his Byakugan so that he would be able to see into Team 7's pouches. When he saw that they had a Heaven scroll, he began to walk towards her, knowing that it would easy enough. She was already tired from the fight and the other two were unconscious, the only thing that stopped him was Haru's hand on his shoulder.

"Daichi, no," this was said in a whisper so that the Haruno would be unable to hear them.

"Haru, they have a Heaven scroll."

"I don't care. They're down to one member and she's already been through enough."

"Would you rather another team come by and take it, a team that would far more unpleasant than us?"

"Look at her. She's exhausted and yet she's still willing to fight us off. Do you really want to be responsible for knocking her out and giving that unpleasant team a chance to take advantage of that?" they locked eyes while Daichi had a debate in his head.

"Very well, let's go," he turned back around, jumped onto a tree branch and disappeared. Haru bent down to pick up Ryūko however while he did that, he gave Sakura a gentle smile and winked before leaving as well.

* * *

**A/N: So this was my first chapter of whatever I've ended up calling it. This chapter was mostly fighting and not much of my OC besides her description. The next chapter should start off with her team so you can see a bit of what they're like. The reason I'm not making it completely OC-centric is because I'm afraid of butchering Naruto's storyline by adding a completely new character. I'll try to keep these chapters around 6000-8000 words long, so expect that.**

**I'm not entirely sure about the pairings, so if you don't mind, could you leave some insight in a review or a PM? Of course I won't I be pairing **_**everyone **_**up, just some people. The pairings I definitely won't do are:**

**Naruto/Sasuke (Not this fic, maybe another one though)**

**Sasuke/Hinata**

**Fem!OC/Naruto**

**Fem!OC/Any other OC (You'll see why in much later chapters, however if you don't mind spoilers, you can ask me why in a PM)**

**But that's about it. I'm completely open to yaoi/yuri, so don't be afraid of suggesting that. In fact, most of the fanfics I read are yuri so just go for it. If not enough suggestions are made, I will probably just go for the one I was originally planning on doing.**


	2. The Team from Sound

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs._

_If I did, Sakura, Ino, Hinata and every other underappreciated female character would have had bigger roles and/or better jutsu._

**WARNING: Just a heads up for people that are uncomfortable with swearing.**

**"Jutsu."**

_'Thinking.'_

**Chapter 2: The Team from Sound**

When Ryūko woke up, the first thing she heard was the sound of running water, so obviously she was by a river of some kind. She opened her eyes when she felt a damp cloth being placed on her forehead. "Glad to see you finally decided to stop napping."

"How long have I been out?" Ryūko asked her blonde team mate. He was kneeling next to her, soaking the now dry cloth that was previously on her forehead. When the Uchiha looked around, she realised that she was in a small cave and just outside was her other team mate catching fish by what looked like a currently unlit campfire.

"Just a couple of hours. You really had us worried there, we thought that our great and mighty leader, Uchiha-sama, was out forever," he teased, "Daichi is just catching us some dinner, we thought this would be a good place to stop for the night."

"What happened to Orochimaru and Sasuke's team?"

"At one point the two guys Daichi and I were fighting just stopped, looked at us and pointed in the direction you went before sinking into the ground, it was really weird. By the time we got there, it was just you and your brother out cold on the ground with a pink haired girl tending to him and a blond guy lying down next to her. She told us that the guy was called Orochimaru and after you guys battled, he bit you. That's what caused the weird mark on your neck."

When Ryūko began to feel around on her neck, Haru brought out a kunai so that she could use the flat surface as a makeshift mirror. She used it to see the Cursed Seal, or as Haru put it, 'Hickey of Doom', that was on the left side of her neck. Just seeing it made her skin crawl. She was now marked with this for life, or at least until someone takes it off of her.

"Daichi used his Byakugan to see inside your chakra system and apparently there's some weird purple chakra in your body, mainly around that mark."

"Does he know what it does?"

"No, but we don't think it's anything good, but whatever that guy wanted from you, he's not getting it, not while I'm here!" at this he gave his team mate a thumbs up and a shining smile. No, really, his teeth were shining. Ryūko gave him a blank stare before throwing a damp cloth at him and leaving the cave. "Hey, come back! You're not supposed to get up yet!" The Uchiha ignored him in favour of going to stand next to Daichi and see how he was getting on. His method of fishing was to throw rocks into the river when he saw a fish so that it would be scared and jump out and then throw a kunai to catch it. So far, four fish were pinned to a tree opposite them.

"I see that you have recovered. In the morning we will start to head to the tower again and on the way we can collect a Heaven scroll," he stopped throwing rocks and turned to look at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm well enough for travel and fighting, the only thing that hurts is my neck which stings like a bitch."

"You seem to be missing your wit and sarcasm, did you hit your head?" all he got for a reply was a mumble that vaguely sounded like a threat of getting something 'shoved up his ass' and his usual nickname: 'dipshit'.

* * *

When it was almost time to eat the fish that Daichi had caught, Ryūko started to feel a slight tingling sensation in her neck. At first, she ignored but then the mark began to get warmer and warmer until finally even she had wince at the pain. She got up quickly and ignored her team's questioning looks as she ran over to the water. She reach in and soaked her hand with the cold water, pulled the material of her mesh shirt away and placed the wet hand on the mark. Although it helped slightly, it was still burning up. Taking her hand away, Ryūko looked at the mark and noticed that instead of its initial blackness, the mark had turned into a hot red colour, like lava, and that was when she cried out from the pain and shut her eyes. Daichi and Haru ran over to her and asked her what was wrong, but they got no reply. Instead, marks began to almost _crawl_ out of the seal and spread over her body. Most of them were shaped like jagged lines while others were like deformed 'S's or 'U's. They were all the same colour while they spread, however they turned black again when they finally settled.

They were all over her body, from her toes to her finger tips finally to her forehead. They were everywhere. If she had a penis, they would probably be on that too! Ryūko groaned and opened her eyes. Why was her Sharingan activated?

"Haru, that purple chakra swirling around her is the same chakra that was inside of her. Get away from her!"

_'What? Purple chakra?'_ Ryūko looked at her eyes and there it was, just lazily swirling around her body. _'What the... how did that happen?'_ The Uchiha turned around and saw her team mates standing not too far behind her. Daichi was in a defensive stance with his Byakugan activated and Haru had his Kamas out. "Guys?"

"Ryūko, is that you?" asked Haru. He looked like he was scared of her.

"What? Of course it's me, idiot," She took a step towards them but they took one back.

"Stay where you are Ryūko, we don't want to hurt you," this time it was Daichi's turn to speak. The girl stopped moving and looked at them like they were stupid.

"It's me, I swear," this made the boys relax a little bit. "What's happening to me?"

"Whatever that man did to you is acting up, but your chakra coils have... it's hard to explain accurately, but it's like they're 'bigger'. Of course, they're not literally bigger, that's almost impossible, but the amount of chakra that's surging through you is giving them that effect. Your muscles in your arms and legs have also seemed to improve drastically, possibly giving you greater strength and speed," when Daichi finished speaking, he and Haru slowly put down their weapons and hands and relaxed their stances.

"Can you... um... power down?" asked Haru.

The Uchiha once again closed her eyes and concentrated, she willed the marks and chakra to recede however it was proving to be extremely difficult. To her, it felt like she was trying to make a wound stop bleeding through sheer will power only. _'Come on Ryūko, you're a Uchiha so start acting like it.'_ Eventually the Curse Seal's marks turned red again and disappeared, but it came with consequences. Ryūko fell to her knees from exhaustion and was breathing heavily.

"Hey, Ryūko, you okay?" asked Haru as he knelt beside his team mate. The girl looked pale- well, paler than usual and her eyes looked dull, like she hadn't slept for days. She slowly got to her feet with the help of the Nakahara boy.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she lied. In truth, Ryūko felt like all her chakra had been sapped from her body, a very large contrast to what she felt like seconds ago. She made her way over to the small camp and sat down on a smooth rock that was roughly the same height of a chair. The Uchiha closed her eyes again and held her head in her hands. She remembered Sasuke getting the same mark and wondered if he was going through the same thing she had. With that thought in mind, she lifted her head up from her hands and was going to stand back up when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Oh no you don't. I know that look and there's no way I'm letting you get up without resting. Dinner's almost ready anyway and you obviously need the strength," said Haru. One look into his eyes and Ryūko knew he wasn't going to step down from that statement. Although she loathed to admit that someone else was right (a feeling that she got from her clan), she knew that the boy had the correct idea.

* * *

In the early morning of the second day of the Chuunin Exams, Team 4 set off to find themselves a Heaven scroll. Of course it wasn't easy. Between dodging traps and avoiding the wild creatures in the forest, the team of Genin were beginning to tire, especially the Uchiha. 'Powering down' the mark on her neck had taken a lot out of her, even after resting for a few hours. It was because of this that they had to stop for a moment every few minutes. Once in a while, Daichi would use his Byakugan to see how far away they were from the tower, and from where they were standing now, he estimated that they would be there within a few hours.

"The only plan we have right now is to go further towards the tower and wait nearby for another team to appear, and then we attack them and take their scroll."

"I don't know about that. What if no team comes our way? Or what if it's a team younger than us? You know I hate beating up kids," complained Haru. Hurting anyone younger than him was always something he tried to avoid, even if it meant getting hurt himself.

Daichi scoffed, "You're too soft, Haru. First you stop me from getting us a Heaven scroll from that other team, and now this? Whatever, just make sure you don't get in my way again."

"Wait, what Heaven scroll? Haru, what did you do?" asked Ryūko. She narrowed her eyes at her team mate. They had the opportunity to get this over with and they didn't take it?

"When we found you out cold, your brother's team was there with us and they had a Heaven scroll, but when I was about to take it, Haru stopped me," replied Daichi. "And because of that, we have to now waste energy and hunt for another team."

"There was only one person able to fight, and she was exhausted! It wouldn't have been fair."

The Uchiha sighed. It was obvious she was going to have to be the mediator in this, which was a surprising change since it was usually her and the Hyuuga that fought. "Well it doesn't matter now. What _does_ matter is getting to the tower before a potential scroll gets away."

* * *

**Meanwhile, with Team 7 and Others**

With Lee on the ground, Sasuke and Naruto unconscious, and Sakura being held down by her hair, Team 10 were conflicted. On one hand, they could just leave and pretend like they never saw anything, while on the other hand they could jump in and attempt to save the day. I say 'attempt' because the chance of them winning was extremely slim. Due to her previous connection with Sakura, Ino's team mates both thought she should make the decision. Leave the girl, her team mates and the older boy to die? Or risk getting killed with them? Seeing Sakura begin to break broke Ino's heart. Her ex-best friend once meant the world to her and witnessing her in this impossible situation made the girl want to just leap out of the bush she was hiding in and beat up anyone that wanted to hurt the girl. Suddenly, Sakura brought out a kunai from her pouch and before the female Sound ninja could make a remark about it, Sakura used it to cut her hair where the older girl held it.

Now free, the Haruno made a few hand signs so that when Kin tackled her, she would be replaced with a log. Zaku, the other Sound ninja, smirked when he recognised the hand signs, therefore he was prepared when Sakura ran towards him shuriken in her hands. When she threw them at him, he used his **Zankuha** jutsu to send them right back at her, however it was another log. Now that he understood what the girl was trying to do, the next time she came at him he threw his own kunai at her, and all three hit her. Zaku then looked around the clearing, chuckling until a drop of blood hit his cheek. Looking up, he saw Sakura still falling towards him with his kunai in one of her arms and in both of her legs. She hadn't replaced herself with a log this time.

Zaku yelled out in both shock and pain. The Haruno had stabbed his arm with a kunai and bit down on his other arm, sending them both to the ground when they collided. Thinking she was crazy, Zaku began to punch her head, hoping that she would take the hint and get off him, however that proved to be a difficult thing to do as the girl was definitely not letting go. Rock Lee and Team 10 were frozen in shock, just like the boy's team mates, Dosu and Kin. Where had this come from? It wasn't until Zaku had managed to get Sakura off of him when Ino made her decision.

* * *

"Ah! Stupid bugs, getting all over my face."

"Damn it Haru, that's the fourth time! Watch where you're jumping."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr Byakugan, but not everyone has a Dojutsu that lets them see _literally everything around them_. It's not my fault bugs keep flying where I'm about to jump to."

"Shh."

"What now, Miss-"

"_Shh_," Ryūko turned to glare at Haru, making the Genin freeze. The Uchiha closed her eyes and concentrated. Although it was faint, the girl was sure that she heard shouting somewhere nearby. "Daichi."

"Already on it," the boy activated his Byakugan. "There's a group of seven people about forty to fifty metres to the right of us, ten people if you count the unconscious ones."

"Is it worth going to investigate?"

"Well, seven of them are from Konoha, one of them being your brother."

"We don't have to interfere, but it would be best to check to see if his mark has acted up the same way mine did. Let's go."

It didn't take long for the team of three to arrive at the clearing. They crouched down on a branch not too high up but not low enough for them to be seen. From where she was crouching, Ryūko could see a team of Sound ninja facing off against three Konoha ninja. The Konoha ninja seemed to be protecting the girl from Sasuke's team while a boy wearing green spandex was lying down off to the side of the clearing. The Uchiha girl assumed her brother and his other team mate were in the small cave below her.

"Psst, Ryūko, Daichi, what should we do?"

"Nothing. If an opportunity to take a Heaven scroll comes up, take it and then we'll leave. For now, we should just watch and see what happens."

"Are you sure? I mean, that team has a Yamanaka and a Nara and they're not really suited for such a close-quarters fight. Not to mention the Akimichi doesn't look too happy to be there. Well, I assume he's an Akimichi, due to his... well... Oh jeez, I hope he's an Akimichi, cause if he's not then I feel really bad assuming just because of his-"

"_Haru, shut up!_"

"Sorry, Daichi."

"So are they the new Ino-Shika-Cho combo?" whispered Ryūko. At least she had the common sense to keep her voice down.

"Yes, I believe so. I think their names are Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji," replied Daichi. "Their fathers were the previous Ino-Shika-Cho."

"How do you know so much about that?"

"I hear things within the Hyuuga compound."

* * *

"You guys call this teamwork? I call this suicide! Let me go!" cried Choji as he fought against Shikamaru's hold on his scarf.

"Stop it Choji, you're getting on my nerves," replied the Nara.

Zaku chuckled to himself, "Better a live sheep than a dead lion, right, Fatso?"

Ino smirked when Choji stopped struggling.

"Did I just hear that right? What did that guy just say?"

_'Uh oh, he just pushed Choji's button big time.'_ thought Shikamaru.

"You wanna try saying that again?" Even though Ryūko couldn't see his face, she knew that Choji was very, very angry.

Not taking the hint, Zaku continued, "I said you're smart to get out while you still can, Fatty!"

Nobody moved, not even the Akimichi boy. You could hear the wind lazily flowing past them as everything around them became quiet... until-

"_**Who are you calling fat?! I'm just a little chubby, OKAY?!**_" Choji turned around and pointed at his team mates. "That does it, this time it's personal! It's a fight to the death between Leaf and Sound!"

Ino turned back to look at the enemies in front of her. _'This is perfect, he's totally lost it.'_

Meanwhile, in the trees, Haru had his hand over his mouth in a desperate attempt to stop himself from laughing out loud and blowing their cover. Unlike their team mate, Daichi and Ryūko had their mouths open in shock, they had no idea someone could get so angry over a silly little insult. In his mind, Daichi was face-palming and wondering how his village could have such a strong reputation when they had ninja like this in it, while Ryūko wondered how Sasuke could have ended up with classmates like this.

Haru couldn't take it anymore, he just had to laugh. Despite his team mates' glares, the boy began to laugh very loudly, however only Ino, Shikamaru and Sakura turned around to look up at them. The Haruno instantly recognised the team while the other two were just confused to see them, however they relaxed slightly when they saw their headbands. Zaku, Dosu and Kin followed their gazes soon after and when they saw Team 4, they groaned internally. These Leaf ninja just keep coming.

Having enough of interferences, Zaku raised his arms and shouted out his jutsu, hoping that he could take out the potential threat, however Ryūko and Daichi saw it coming. They jumped off of the branch, however the Nakahara had to be picked up by the Hyuuga because he was currently unable to do anything except laugh. The three landed next to Team 10, Daichi had his Byakugan activated while Ryūko had her sword out. Haru had stopped laughing almost immediately after he landed on the ground and he now had his Kamas out. Ryūko would have activated her Sharingan, however she found out earlier that they irritated the seal on her neck.

The Akimichi was able to momentarily snap out of his rage so that he could look at the new arrivals more closely. He knew right away that Daichi was a Hyuuga, however he didn't know who the tallest guy was, so he assumed that he was from a civilian family. He thought the same about the girl, however once he saw the symbol on her back, his eyes widened.

Ino's eyes were in a similar state when she too saw the Uchiha clan symbol, however Shikamaru knew who she was from just looking at her face. The hair, the eyes and the emotionless face all pointed towards Uchiha, her back only confirmed his thoughts. He sighed and commented quietly on how troublesome all of this was turning out to be.

"This is your fault, Haru."

"Is not."

"Of course it is! If you would have just kept your mouth shut-"

"Quiet you two." whispered the Uchiha. Her eyes never left the Sound ninja in front of her. Getting into defensive stances, the two boys both eyed the enemies in front of them as well.

"Well, well... you Leaf Genin sure do love to come to each other's rescue. Cute," mocked Dosu. He grinned from underneath the bandages that were wrapped around his face. "Since you're not our target, I won't kill you all. Well, I'll try not to."

When the ninja began to lift up the sleeve that was covering his gauntlet, Choji's rage came back full force and he turned to look at Team 4. "Oh hell no! This is _my_ fight and I'll be damned if I let you guys interfere!" despite his team mates' cries of 'stop', the Akimichi used his signature jutsu to turn himself into a large ball. He then used chakra to roll himself towards the enemy at a very fast speed.

"You've gotta be kidding me. Hehe, maybe I'm supposed to laugh myself to death." Zaku raised his arms and used his jutsu again to fight against Choji's body, however before it even hit him, the ball jumped into the air and came at him from above. Dosu panicked when he saw that Zaku couldn't fight back, so he started to run towards him intent on tackling him out of the way, however he was stopped by Shikamaru's jutsu. Fortunately for him though, Zaku was able to jump out of the way. Since there was only one left, Ino used her clan jutsu to enter Kin's mind as her body fell to its knees. With his team mates currently incapacitated, Zaku was left alone to deal with the ball that was trying to hit him.

"Well then, I see that we're not needed here." said Haru as he slipped his Kamas back into the holsters on his thighs.

"Don't be so sure," replied Daichi. "Get ready to help."

'Kin' pulled out a kunai and lifted it to her neck. "Alright guys, one false move from either of you and your team mate gets it in the neck. Drop your scroll and walk away and when you're far enough that I can't sense your chakras, I'll let her go." Despite 'Kin's threat, the two boys smirked. Zaku raised his arms and fired his airwaves at her. Not expecting this, 'Kin' was hit by them, hard, and she was sent flying into a tree. When she fell to the ground, a trickle blood escaped from her mouth while the same happened to Ino's body. Just then, Shikamaru's hold on Dosu wore out.

"Oh ho ho, so your jutsu has a pretty limited duration. I also see that your friend is able to slip her soul into her opponent's body. Clever but dangerous because anything that happens to Kin, happens to her as well," Dosu smirked.

"So if Kin were to die..." Zaku lifted up both of his arms towards his female team mate.

"Damn it..." cursed Shikamaru. "Ino, get of there!" the girl cancelled her jutsu and was returned into her own body.

Zaku laughed, "Did you really think you could beat us? It's impossible for ninja that come from a second rate village to beat us."

"Second rate? I guess that makes your village third rate," the Sound ninja team turned towards the latest arrivals just as a palm strike was heading was Dosu's chest. Luckily for him, he managed to jump away and towards Zaku. Daichi landed where Dosu once stood in a signature Hyuuga stance. "I really didn't want to get involved, but I can't have you killing members from my village."

"Don't talk so tough, asshole!" the Sound ninja lifted up his arms and used his jutsu, however the air merely went around the Hyuuga when he used the **Hakkesho Kaiten** jutsu. _'Damn, this guy must be from the main branch of the Hyuuga clan. This may be tougher than I thought.'_

Dosu ran towards the Hyuuga with his gauntlet raised. He may have been able to block Zaku's attack but there was no way he would be able to block Dosu's. Before he reached the boy, a sword came down from above and landed inside one of the holes of the gauntlet, pushing it down and making him lose balance. Dosu would have used his jutsu if the person that wielded the sword was in front of him, however they weren't. Ryūko had jumped over Dosu and pushed down on his gauntlet with her sword when she was directly above him. Seeing his chance, Daichi sprang forward and hit Dosu in the stomach with a palm strike, resulting in the bandaged boy sailing back towards his team mates. Glaring at the two Genin, Dosu ordered Zaku to go after the Hyuuga and Kin to go after the other boy, leaving him with the female Uchiha.

* * *

Haru was ready when she threw senbon at him so it was easy for him to block them with one of his Kamas. She then tried her luck with a high kick towards his head, but that was easily dodged when he bent backwards. It was then Haru's turn to attack. He tried to swipe at her with one of his weapons but Kin brought out another senbon to deflect it, so he then tried again with his other weapon, however that was once again deflected.

"You're good for a Sound ninja," the Nakahara then feinted left with a Kama, fell forward onto his other hand and sent a kick at the girl's shoulder which directly hit her and put her off balance. "But not good enough." Lastly, he hit her in the stomach with the bottom of one of his weapons, and she was sent flying into a tree and knocked unconscious.

* * *

Due to Zaku's jutsu, Daichi wanted to get as close to the boy as possible so that he could use his special taijutsu on him, however that was proving to be difficult when the Sound ninja kept jumping away when he got too close.

"I know all about you and your monstrous jutsu, so there's no way I'm letting you near me!" When he was far enough away, Zaku tried to use his jutsu, however it would just be blocked by Daichi's **Hakkesho Kaiten **jutsu. Neither one was able to land a hit on the other. In fact, if Daichi hadn't have used a jutsu other than his clan's, the fight could have gone on for a lot longer than it did.

"**Doton: Doryuheki!**" the Hyuuga placed his hands on the ground and a large earth wall was raised up from the ground, just when his opponent used his jutsu. The powerful air struck the wall and was able to chip away at the sides, however no real damage was dealt. Becoming even more angry, Zaku jumped up and over the wall, but Daichi wasn't there. All of a sudden, the boy in question appeared above him.

_'He's fast!'_ thought Zaku just before he felt a hard strike against his back. The sound ninja fell to the ground and groaned, but he did not get up.

* * *

Ryūko and Dosu were in a similar predicament. Due to the seal on her neck, Ryūko wasn't able to use any jutsu or her Sharingan, therefore she had to rely on her sword and taijutsu, however even then that wasn't enough. Whenever Dosu tried to use his gauntlet, the girl would just jump either over him or around him and use her sword to push his gauntlet in another direction, and when Ryūko tried to hit him with her sword he would block it with his gauntlet. It obvious for anyone to see that the two were poorly matched

The Sound ninja and the Uchiha stopped for a moments and faced each other. "So, how is this meant to go?"

"Preferably with your scroll in my hand and my sword in your chest."

"Well that's a shame, because I would very much like you out of my way and Sasuke dead."

"Why do you want to kill him anyway? I know he's a bit of an asshole, but I'm sure that he hasn't done anything to you."

"You're right, he hasn't done anything to me, but my... 'employer' wants him dead. You see, my team and I don't care about these trivial scrolls or even passing this exam, all we care about is fulfilling the demands of our employer. So if you would kindly get out of my way-"

"Like hell. You started this fight against Genin that were way out of your league, and now I'm gonna finish it. But before I do, answer me one question. By any chance is your employer Orochimaru?" if this man in front of Ryūko was in fact collaborating with the Snake Sannin, she would beat answers out of him. If not, then she would probably just beat him up anyway.

"Oh? And how did you know that?"

"That Hebi-teme did something to me and Sasuke and I wanna know what," the Uchiha pulled down her mesh shirt to reveal the mark on her neck. "Just what exactly is this and what has it done to us?"

_'She and Sasuke have a seal? But then why would Orochimaru... of course.'_

"It seems like I have been played and I was not meant to kill Sasuke. Instead, he was meant to kill me." Dosu didn't feel surprised at all by that. Everyone knew what Orochimaru thought of his subordinates, or perhaps 'pawns' was the better term. Unless someone proved to be a suitable body for him, or they showed great potential as an 'assistant' of sorts, they were expendable.

"What do you mean? He's unconscious, so how would he be able to kill you?"

"When you woke up, the mark activated, didn't it?" he took the girl's silence as a 'yes', "It's the same with every other survivor of the Cursed Seal. You wake up and it spreads over your body like a disease, giving you strength, speed and stronger chakra, however it also has some cons. It eats away at your own supply of chakra, leaving you exhausted afterwards, but the most dangerous thing about it is that it makes you angry and uncontrollable. Only a few people are able to control this anger, and that's because it takes a lot of concentration and it also requires you to have experience with suppressing emotions."

"Tch, then you have nothing to worry about: Uchiha are sort of famous for being "heartless"," Ryūko said.

"That doesn't mean you don't have pent up anger and hatred. You'll see what I mean when he wakes up," Dosu then pulled out two scrolls. "In exchange for the lives of my team mates and I, take these Heaven and Earth scrolls. Please."

_'Well I suppose it's a sound deal... that pun was not intended.'_

The Uchiha girl sheathed her sword and was about to walk towards Dosu when something stopped her. All of a sudden, a large amount of ominous chakra began emitting from the area where Sasuke and Naruto lay. Team 4 recognised the chakra straight away. It was the same chakra that surrounded Ryūko when her mark first activated. Everyone in the clearing looked towards the source to see dark purple chakra leaking from Sasuke's body as the boy's face made pained expressions. Soon the enough, the chakra expanded around him until he was completely obscured from vision, however the malevolent feeling didn't leave anyone's bodies. In fact, the chakra made some slightly weaker stomached people feel sick. For example Choji, Ino, Haru and Sakura looked like they might throw up soon.

The chakra began to clear out as Sasuke stood up, dark red flame-like markings spreading over one side of his body. "Sakura," the Genin said in a voice that sounded darker than his usual one. "Who did this to you?" It was just then that Zaku began to wake up and Dosu prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid, especially since he just bargained for their lives.

"Hehehe... that would be me," Almost instantly two red and black eyes locked onto him. Zaku raised his hands after going through his signature seals.

"Don't be an idiot, Zaku!" yelled Dosu, but it was too late. The Sound ninja aimed at Team 4, 7 and 10 and called out his jutsu. Team 4 managed to be quick enough to grab Team 10 and jump into a nearby bush, however Team 7 were nowhere to be seen when the jutsu ended.

"Well would you look at that? I blew them all away!"

"Not quite," came a voice from behind Zaku. Sasuke stood with his arm raised and Sakura and Naruto on the ground. The boy backhanded the Sound ninja a good few feet away, only to get behind him once more with the boy's wrists in a vice grip. "You seem quite proud of these arms, don't you? It would be a shame if something happened to them." Sasuke pulled on the arms at an awkward angle, _hard_, and the sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the clearing. Sasuke then looked at the remaining conscious member of the Sound team. "It looks likes you're the only one left."

Ryūko didn't know what to do as peaked over the bush her team and Team 10 were currently residing in. The other five were doing the same. Daichi, Choji and Shikamaru wanted to run - or as Ino would put it, a "tactical retreat" - while Haru, Ino and Ryūko wanted to do something. Gritting her teeth in frustration, the Uchiha turned to the others. "You guys stay here, I'm gonna try to stop him."

"What? Are you crazy? He's way too powerful!" exclaimed Ino. "Who are you anyway?"

"Uchiha Ryūko, older sister to Sasuke," before she jumped out of the bush, she turned to look at Team 10. "Are any of you hurt badly?" she asked. When all three of them shook their heads, the girl nodded and told Daichi and Haru to look out for them.

Drawing her sword, Ryūko leapt out of the bush, stopped a few paces in front of her brother and glared at him. "Alright you emo prick, knock it off."

"Get out of my way Ryūko, this isn't your fight."

"Actually, it kinda is seeing as I've been fighting this guy for the past few minutes while you were on your lazy ass."

"He gave me the power to avenge our clan, _me_-"

"You're not special, idiot. He gave me a mark as well and believe me, it's not fun. Now knock it off, he already gave me his scrolls so that he could live."

"You wanna stand up for him? Fine, you can die with him as well!" shouted Sasuke, however just as he was about to run at the older girl, Sakura wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Stop it Sasuke-kun! Please!" cried the girl as tears streamed down her face. "Listen to what you're saying, Sasuke-kun. This isn't you." The Uchiha male turned back to look at his team mate in the eyes with his Sharingan, however Sakura didn't even flinch from its piercing stare. Instead, she just hugged the boy tighter. Sasuke slumped to his knees as the marks on his body receded and his Dojutsu deactivated.

Ryūko sighed in relief and lowered her sword from its defensive position. She was glad that things didn't get messy as she wasn't sure she would win against the other Uchiha in the condition she was in. Team 10 did a silent cheer while Haru did a fist bump in the air.

"Sasuke, you are obviously strong, too strong for us," said Dosu as pulled out the two scrolls he offered to Ryūko earlier. He threw the Earth scroll to Sakura and the Heaven scroll to Ryūko. "We underestimated you. I will take my team and go, however I promise you that if we ever meet in combat again, we won't run or hide."

* * *

After the Sound team left and Naruto woke up, Lee's team came to pick him up, however they didn't stay for long. Team 10 and the two members of Team 4 came out from behind the bush, the former walking towards Team 7 while the latter walked towards Ryūko. Team 4 were about to leave when they were stopped by Sakura's voice.

"Wait," she called. The pink haired girl stood up and walked towards them. When she was just a couple of paces in front of them, she bowed. "Thank you for helping up fight those three. You didn't have to step in, but you did and for that I am very grateful."

It was Haru that replied to her. "No biggie, I'm always ready to help a pretty girl such as yourse- oof!" he was cut off when his Hyuuga team mate elbowed him in the stomach.

"What he means to say is "you're welcome". My team and I will be on our way now."

"Are you sure? We have medical supplies that we're willing to share, after all it's the least we can do after you saved us."

"You heard him Sakura. They're _leaving_," said Sasuke. Every since the Sound ninja left, his eyes never left Ryūko. It was like he was trying to glare a hole straight through her. The girl in question turned around and locked eyes with her brother, however she didn't give him a dirty look, merely an unreadable one.

"But Sasuke-kun, they-"

"Shut up, Sakura."

Naruto was about to defend his long-time crush, however someone else beat him to it. Someone that everyone least expected.

"What the hell is your problem?" Ino asked the boy angrily. "You know what, Sasuke? Sakura has been nothing but nice to you ever since she met you and all you do is treat her like shit! Just because you're from some powerful clan doesn't mean everyone else is beneath you. Look at your sister! She and her team came in to help us when it wasn't even their fight. Sure their position was given away unintentionally, but they could have just left immediately after being spotted by those Sound assholes, but they didn't. She stayed to help us!"

Furious, Sasuke stood up and faced the Yamanaka girl. "You better watch who you're talking to. I'm an elite Uchiha, and you're just some loud-mouthed flower girl that shouldn't even be a ninja. In fact, if it wasn't for your team mates, not even five minutes would have gone by in this forest and you'd be dead. Just quit and stick to what you were made for: making babies."

Sighing internally at her brother's stupidity, Ryūko quickly stepped between the two. "This is where I would usually defend the person that you've decided to piss off by giving you a witty retort, however I don't think you would be able to hear me seeing as your head is so far up your own ass."

"What did you just say to me?"

"Well that's surprising, you did hear me. I guess I'll take advantage of this rare occasion and keep talking. This girl has shown more courage in the last ten minutes than you have in your entire life by facing ninja that were clearly out of her league and unlike you, she doesn't hide behind abilities that were given to her on a silver platter. So why don't you shut up, turn around and leave her the fuck alone."

The shock from Ryūko (someone she barely knew) standing up for her almost took her mind off of the previous thought she had in her head. Almost.

Uchiha Sasuke, the 'Boy of her Dreams' was _not_ what she expecting him to be like. The lack of real communication she had with him in the academy was most likely responsible for her expectations of the boy, and now they just shattered before her eyes. Seeing Sasuke shout at Sakura the way he did was like a slap to the face, and now the feelings she had for him were almost completely eliminated. Of course, the physical attraction is still _slightly_ there, however it's not nearly as strong as it was before. If only she could have seen this side of him sooner, then she would have spent less time on useless diets and beauty products and more time on training, maybe then she wouldn't have to rely on Shikamaru and Choji all the time.

A few moments went by before Sasuke made a 'hn' sound and walked away from them. Most people around Ino and Ryūko let out a sigh of relief when no fight broke out, especially since they were exhausted from the previous one. Without saying anything, the Uchiha girl walked back towards her team mates and together they began to leave the clearing. They ignored Ino's cry of 'wait!' and quickly climbed up the nearest tree, disappearing into the foliage.

Choji turned to his lazy friend. "So, what do ya think happened to make those two hate each other so much?"

Shikamaru just shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

* * *

With both scrolls in their possession, Team 4 began to make their way to the tower in the middle of the forest. It was just a couple of hours after noon on the third day and with his Byakugan, Daichi predicted that they would reach their goal by the end of the day.

The journey there went pretty smoothly: no enemy ninja encounters and only a couple of wild creatures attacked them. None of them could complain. When they reached the tower, they were presented with a riddle that mentioned the two scrolls and seeing as there was nothing else they could do, Haru and Ryūko opened their scrolls. A large puff of smoke appeared from the opened scrolls and when the two Genin threw them on the ground, a Chuunin appeared. The Chuunin explained meaning behind the riddle and compared the team to the Heaven and Earth scrolls. Haru was like the Earth scroll, specialised in the physical aspects of being a Chuunin but lacked the intellect of the mind. Daichi was like the Heaven scroll and was the opposite of Haru while Ryūko was a balanced mix of both.

When the Chuunin finished, he directed the team towards Konoha's section of the tower so that they could use the remaining day of the exam to rest and prepare for the next stage.

* * *

At noon on the fifth day, all of the teams that passed and their sensei were in a large rectangular room that had a walkway on two sides. With the day they had to rest, Team 4 were almost completely healed up and Ryūko's Cursed Seal hadn't acted up once. Team 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Konoha were also there, although it was obvious that they were in a far worse condition.

At the front of the room, the Hokage was speaking with Ibiki, Anko and Kakashi about what they were going to do with Sasuke's mark when the female Jonin spotted the boy's sister.

"Hey, isn't she Uchiha Ryūko? I forgot that she was participating."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I remember seeing her in the first exam. She's a lot like her brother," replied Ibiki.

"Which one?"

"In terms of appearance, definitely Sasuke, but she acts a lot more like Itachi: the silent intelligent type that doesn't behave like a typical Uchiha."

"Wait, I just had a thought. What do you think Orochimaru would do if he found more than one Uchiha?" Anko tensed up immediately. Having one kid with an unstable mark could end the Chuunin Exams, but _two_? If any of the other Kage found out that their ninja were in the presence of a walking time-bomb, peace within the villages could potentially shatter.

"It's obvious, isn't it? We need to take them out of the exam and put them in quarantine until we stabilise them," replied the scarred shinobi.

"Oh, and you think they're just going to go along with that? I know for a fact that Sasuke would have a lot to say about that," the Copy-Cat ninja appeared next to the group of ninja.

"May I also say that Ryūko would never let any of you do that without a fight?" a man with long dark, almost blue, hair stood next to Kakashi. He had a regular Jonin outfit on with his headband tied around his forehead with a few locks of hair poking out and over it on the right hand side. He also had brown eyes so dark that they could be mistaken for being black. **(Think of Caius' hair from Final Fantasy XIII-2)**

"Ah, Hideyoshi-san! How nice to see you again. I take it you're proud of your students for getting this far?"

"It is nice to see you as well, Hokage-sama. Yes, I'm very happy for my students, however I was nervous about whether or not they would pass the Second Exam seeing as their teamwork has much to improve on."

"I mean no disrespect Hokage-sama, Hideyoshi-san, but we must agree to something. We either quarantine the two Uchihas, or we think of something else," Anko said.

"I agree. Kakashi, I expect you to have an idea."

"Let me take them, Hokage-sama. I have a number of seals I could use to keep the mark at bay, however I cannot remove the mark and whether or not the two of them let it take over will be their choice."

"Very well. Take them during the first match so that they draw the least amount of attention as possible."

* * *

**A/N: Well here's the second chapter. Apologies to my one follower for the long wait, but a lot of things got in my way. I've been thinking about putting previews at the end of some chapters and responses to reviews, so please leave some feedback and questions if you have any because they usually speed up the writing time.**

**Preview (but this scene will be in a much, **_**much**_** later chapter, so don't get too excited):**

**"Ryūko, calm down-"**

**"Calm down? Calm down?! _He's a murderer!_****"**

**"You'll be killed! He's too strong for you!" replied the older man.**

**"Oh believe me, I won't let myself die until I've put that man in the ground, so he can rot in Hell where he belongs!****" with that final statement, the female Uchiha turned away from her sensei and exited the dark room, slamming the door behind her, and Mangekyo Sharingan burning like an Uchiha's flame.**


	3. Preliminaries and Coffee

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs. If I did, chapter 700 of the manga would be burned away from existence and a new rewritten version be called "Chapter 700-2"._

_'Thinking.'_

"Talking."

**Chapter 3:** **Preliminaries and Coffee**

Unfortunately for Kakashi, Sasuke had the first match against Akado Yoroi, therefore he was unable to seal Sasuke's mark until the match was over. When all the other Genin and their sensei went up onto the walkways, Kakashi approached the other Uchiha who was leaning on the railing, intent on asking her whether or not she received a mark. Before he could get too close to her, the girl's sensei silently signalled him to stop from Ryūko's other side. Hideyoshi then started to sneak up on his student by tip toeing towards her and ducking behind other people every so often. When he was a few paces away, he crouched down like a cat and pounced.

"Ryūko-chaaaan!" he yelled while in mid-air, causing most people around them to stare in shock. Without flinching, Ryūko ducked and the older man went sailing over her and into a green spandex wearing Jonin, like the fifteen year old was used to this kind of behaviour.

Hideyoshi's life flashed before his eyes just like every other time he tried to sneak up on Ryūko, however instead of landing flat on his face, he was caught by two strong hands around his waist. He was then turned up into a vertical position and put down with his feet on the floor. Maito Gai gave him a thumbs up.

"Hello there, Hideyoshi-kun! I see that you've improved on your stealth, however Ryūko-chan's spirit of youth seems to still be able to avoid you."

"Hello Gai-kun. Yes, I seem to have taught her well. _Too well_ if you ask me. No matter, because Haru-kun always falls for it!"

"Hey!" a cry of protest came from said boy.

"May I ask why you're trying to tackle her this time?"

"Top triple S-class secret, I'm afraid. Speaking of that, I really need to check something!" with that, the long haired Jonin sped over to Ryūko and grabbed the collar of her mesh shirt and despite her yell of "pervert!", he pulled it down just enough to reveal the Cursed Seal. "Just as I thought, you have been burdened by the Hickey of Doom," the Jonin sensei sighed. "No matter, Kakashi-kun can fix you up just as soon as Sasuke-kun has finished his match."

"What do you mean? What can he do?" inquired the girl.

"I have something in mind that can seal that mark of yours on your neck, however it's not one hundred percent effective as it would be ultimately up to you whether or not the mark will take over," replied the silver haired man. He had watched the whole ordeal with amusement in his visible eye.

"Ah, my eternal rival! What do you think of your team's progress so far?" said Gai.

"Hm? Did you say something Gai?"

The taijutsu master of Konoha began to rant on how "hip and cool" Kakashi was while people around him sweat-dropped. Ryūko rolled her eyes and turned back to the fight. Haru soon stood beside her on her left while Daichi stood to Haru's left, sandwiching the taller boy in the middle. After Sasuke found the strength within him and pushed Yoroi off of him, someone walked up to Ryūko. The girl was slightly nervous walking towards this person that was obviously stronger than her, however that didn't make her turn back.

"Um, Ryūko, right?" said girl turned her head to the right at the mention of her name and had to lower her head slightly so she was able to look the Yamanaka in the eyes. "I know Sakura already thanked you, but I would like to as well. If it wasn't for your team, I'm sure I would be dead - Shikamaru and Choji as well. You didn't have to step in, but you did, and for that I'm very grateful."

Ryūko was taken aback a little bit. From what Sasuke had told her, Yamanaka Ino was a loud mouth and would rather gouge out her own eyeballs before she thanked someone, let alone a stranger.

"... You're welcome, Yamanaka-san."

"Oh no, Ino's just fine! When people call me Yamanaka-san it makes me feel like an old lady!" Ino then gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of her head, just under her pony tail.

"Ino-san it is then."

"Yeah, well... I better get back to my team. See ya!" the blonde turned around and immediately let out the breath she was unintentionally holding. That was almost as bad as that time in the forest when they came across that Hyuuga! _'It's the eyes,_' she thought. _'An Uchiha and Hyuuga's eyes always appear to be staring straight through you, even shy little Hinata freaks me out a bit when she looks at me for too long.'_

Ryūko watched the younger girl leave for a bit longer than she should have, probably because this kind of thing hadn't happened before the Chuunin Exams.

"Bye Angel!" cried Haru as peaked over Ryūko's head, however a hand grabbed his hair and with a yelp of pain, he was forced to look at match in front of him instead. "Jeez Daichi, no need to be so rough."

"Shut up, imbecile."

"That hurt, man."

Speaking of the match, Sasuke just won. _'Well that was boring, although that's probably because I wasn't even paying attention. Oops'_, thought Ryūko.

When Sasuke reached him, Kakashi was about to go get Ryūko when the next two names appeared on the black screen at the back of the room.

_Uchiha Ryūko vs. Kinuta Dosu_

_'Greeeaat'_, the masked wearing man thought.

* * *

The two Genin stood in front of each other, both were excited and at the same time nervous. Dosu and Ryūko both had time to heal earlier that day and Ryūko had found out that even with the mark, she was able to use her Sharingan (but only for maybe a few seconds at a time with at least a ten second interval between uses) and one or two small fireballs. Add that to her sword and taijutsu and she obviously had a better chance of winning than in the forest.

"It seems like we're going to get our rematch, eh Uchiha?"

"Indeed, Sound ninja."

"Let's make it a good one, for the audience."

"Sure."

When the proctor lowered his hand and yelled out the command to fight, Dosu pulled up his sleeve and charged at the girl, however she had pulled out her sword and was already in the air, ready to push away the gauntlet.

"Oh no you don't, we're not repeating that bullshit again!" Dosu exclaimed. He quickly pulled out a kunai as his gauntlet was forced downwards and threw it above him. Ryūko didn't have enough time to react, so she just barely twisted her body in time, but she still received a small cut on her side. The kunai lodged itself into the ceiling and Ryūko landed where Dosu stood before the match started.

_'Damn it, if I had used my Sharingan then I would have been able to see that.'_

"What's the matter? Reflexes getting a bit slow?" Dosu taunted.

Lifting up her sword again, Ryūko charged at him as he ran at her, but the Sound ninja didn't raise his gauntlet again. Instead, he ducked low and grabbed the girl by her waist and lifted her up over his shoulder. That would surprise most ninja, however the Uchiha had learned from her previous mistake and had activated her Sharingan before he touched her. Dosu bent forward and was about to slam the girl onto the ground, but unfortunately for him, the female leaned backwards and placed her hands on the ground, dropping her chokuto in the process. She then used his shock to her advantage and slipped out of his hold and got into a handstand. Still frozen from this sudden twist of events, the other Genin didn't see the foot coming for his face until it had already hit him.

Dosu skidded across the floor with a probably bruising cheek, however he was quick to get back up. "Not bad for a Konoha ninja."

"Sadly, I can't say the same to you," Ryūko needed to finish this, and fast. Using the Sharingan like that made the mark on her neck tingle and she didn't want to take any chances. Going through the hand signs for the **Gōkakyū no Jutsu**, a large fireball came from the girl's mouth. As stated earlier, Ryūko could only do one or two small fireballs, however she needed a big one for her plan to work. Her mark began to tingle more fiercely and she could already feel it beginning to change colour.

Dosu, thinking he was smart, sent chakra into his legs and jumped high up into the air, high enough that he was almost able to touch the ceiling. He pulled out four shuriken and looked over the fireball for his target but was unable to find her. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Ryūko had jumped onto the railing of one of the walkways, out of Dosu's vision and jumped again onto the ceiling, right next to the kunai that belonged to the Sound ninja. When said ninja realised that the Uchiha was gone, he immediately looked up just in time to see Ryūko coming for him. He dropped his shuriken in surprise when he was tackled out of the air. Both of them fell to the ground with Dosu lying on his back and the female Uchiha straddling his chest with the kunai held up against his bandaged neck.

"You lose," was all the girl said before most of the Genin and their sensei began to clap. The match was pronounced officially over with Uchiha Ryūko being the victor. When Ryūko got up, she held out her hand to the boy and with slight reluctance, he took it and was pulled up to his feet. "Good match. Here's your kunai back."

Dosu took the offered weapon and placed it back in his pouch. "Yeah... uh, you too," he said quietly. Whether it was out of embarrassment for losing or feeling strange about complimenting an enemy, the boy blushed and walked back towards his team mates while Ryūko did the same. Before she was able to be congratulated by an over-excited Haru, Hatake Kakashi grabbed her shoulder and said "Let's go," and all of a sudden they were gone with only a few leaves left behind.

* * *

"I'm not sure if I feel comfortable about being in just my underwear in front of an old man."

"Watch how you talk to your elders, young lady," Kakashi wasn't bothered by the old man comment, he was used to it by now because having silver hair gives you some comments from young children. Ryūko and Sasuke were sitting in front of him with their backs to him. Sasuke had his black boxers on while Ryūko had her black pants on and dark blue sports bra. Both of them had the pale skin that was common among the Uchiha clan and even from the angle he was currently standing at, Kakashi could tell by their body shape that they both trained very hard. Once the man had finished drawing different seals on their bodies, he told them that it wouldn't hurt. Placing one hand on each of their marks, Kakashi closed his eyes sent some chakra through his hands and onto the marks. The seals on their bodies began to make their way towards the Cursed Mark and by the end of the process there was a circle around each mark with some lines and seals sticking out.

" You said it wouldn't hurt!" cried Sasuke.

"Well it didn't hurt me," replied the Jonin. All of a sudden the two siblings felt exhausted and they soon fell forward onto the ground, unconscious. "Of course this would happen." Just as he was about to pick the two up, he felt a presence behind him. Turning around, he was met with two yellow eyes staring at him. Kakashi got into a battle stance and lifted up his headband so that his Sharingan was revealed.

"It seems like you've partially blocked my intoxicating power from them. You may have somewhat prevented me from influencing them, but I assure you, Hatake... they will come to me seeking power. After all, revenge is a very effective motivator." Charging up his **Raikiri**, the Copy-Cat ninja ran towards the Snake Sannin and stabbed him in the chest, but as expected the clone turned into snakes that slithered off into the darkness.

* * *

When Ryūko and Sasuke woke up, Kakashi took them back to the arena hall at their request so they could see the rest of the matches. When they arrived the black screen had just finished picking the next two names.

_Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino_

As the two walked up the steps of the walkway, they passed Sakura first who gave the male Uchiha a smile, however it went completely ignored. Half way up the steps they passed Ino who didn't look at either of them, but she turned around when she heard a silent "good luck".

_'Did Sasuke just...?'_ originally thinking it was the boy that said that, Ino looked at Sasuke but he gave no indication of saying anything, so instead she looked at the slightly taller Uchiha. Her bright blue eyes were met with the cold onyx ones that belonged to Ryūko, however as soon as that happened, the Uchiha turned her head forwards again and continued walking. The Yamanaka was brought out of her slight daydream by the proctor calling her name, and with a quick "I'm coming", she hurried down the last few steps and faced her pink haired rival.

"I knew it would come to this eventually, Ino-pig. I just hope that you're prepared to lose."

"You watch your mouth, Billboard-Brow!"

"No wonder Sasuke doesn't like you, not only are you a pig, but you're almost as loud as Naruto. Just to let you know, I don't focus on diets or beauty like you do, instead I train so there's no way I'm going to lose here," it was clear to most people that Sakura was just trying to anger the blonde kunoichi, and it seemed to be working.

"We'll see about that," replied Ino as she untied her headband from her waist. Sakura did the same with hers and they both tied their headbands around their foreheads. "Let's not hold back in this fight, okay?"

"Of course."

The two girls quickly engaged in a hand-to-hand combat fight, but neither of them could land a hit on the other and any ninja tools that were used would just be caught and thrown right back.

"That's all the taijutsu kunoichi can use?" Neji rolled his pale eyes at the sight in front of him. Naruto and two out of the three members of Team 4 turned to look at the Hyuuga however before any of them could comment, Tenten began to scold him for it.

"Jeez Neji, it's not because they're girls, it's just because they're holding back on each other, even though they said they wouldn't."

Back to the fight, Sakura had started to run at Ino while going through hand-signs for the **Bunshin no Jutsu**. As she was getting closer to Ino, the clone that was on the left suddenly jumped ahead and aimed at kick at the girl's head. The clone on the right also jumped forward and raised its fist while Sakura, who was in the middle, just continued to run. Before the clones' attacks hit, they disappeared in a puff of smoke, distracting the Yamanaka long enough for Sakura to punch her in the stomach. Ino skidded along the ground on her back, however she quickly recovered and charged at Sakura. Both girls tried to punch each other but they caught the other's fist. Seeing that neither could get the upper hand, they broke apart and the Haruno threw a shuriken to her opponent which bounced off of Ino's shuriken.

Eventually, in one final attempt to land a hit, the kunoichi punched each other in the face, knocking them both back and against the walls.

"This isn't how it was supposed to go. How can you be evenly matched with me?!" yelled Ino.

"I guess you were right Ino, your looks and your hair can't be surpassed. I've been training too hard to worry about any of that stuff," Kakashi knew that Sakura wasn't one to flaunt her abilities and taunt her opponent without good reason, so he knew it that his student just wanted to rile Ino up. And it was working.

"You're gonna pay for that. I'm sick of you making fun of me!" the Yamanaka pulled out a kunai and raised it to her hair that was pulled tightly back into a long ponytail. Most people on Konoha's side of the room were shocked to see the girl that was known for caring more about her beauty than being a ninja cut her hair with the kunai. Even the two male Hyuuga and Uchiha siblings were surprised. Ino's teammates knew that the girl had finally lost it. "Alright, I'll put an end to this right now!" the kunoichi held up her hands in her family's signature hand-sign.

"What do you think you're doing? If you miss that, it's all over. That jutsu allows you to enter someone's body and control it for a while, but leaves your own body vulnerable. If you miss, it will take at least two minutes for you to enter your own body again. A powerful jutsu but as long as I can dodge it, it's not a threat," Sakura was feeling quite smug now, if she managed to dodge it then the watch would be over.

"Shut up, Billboard Brow! **Shintenshin No Jutsu**!" Ino went limp just as Sakura jumped to one side.

"That's unfortunate, Ino. You're done for now- huh?" the Genin tried to move towards her ex-best friend, but a string of blue chakra was wrapped around her legs, holding her still. On the other end was Ino holding it down.

"You fell for it, Sakura!" it was Ino's turn to smile. "All those hand-signs earlier were just a show to trick you, and you walked right into my trap. You can't move, can you? That's because the string wrapped around you is made of my hair with chakra poured into it," despite Sakura's attempt to free herself, she was unable to move her legs. The blonde put her foot on the string of chakra and lifted her hands back into a hand-sign. "There's no way this will miss now. **Shintenshin No Jutsu**!" calling out her clan's jutsu once more, Ino went limp.

"Well that's really unfortunate, Sakura," it was obvious now that, even though those words were coming out of Sakura's mouth, Ino was in control. "Now I, Haruno Sakura, would like to with-" however Ino/Sakura was cut off by an orange jumpsuit wearing boy.

"No! Sakura don't! You worked so hard to get here, don't disgrace yourself by losing to that lame Ino girl!" Naruto wasn't going to let his crush lose like this. No way!

Ryūko looked over at the Jinchuriki and smirked. _'Well Sasuke, you've certainly acquired an interesting team.'_

Something strange happened. Ino/Sakura lowered her hand and clutch her head as if she were in pain. A few seconds after that, Ino/Sakura's hands began to lower and form a hand-sign. "Release!" Ino was thrown out of the Haruno's body and back into her own. The girls stood up shakily and ran at each other again, fists raised. Everyone watched with either slight interest and shock when they both punched each other again, except this time the two coughed up blood and their headbands fell off of their foreheads. Both were knocked to the ground immediately and neither got back up again.

The proctor called the match to an end, claiming that the two Genin wouldn't be able to continue fighting. Kakashi and Asuma jumped down and picked up their students and jumped back up to the walkway. Instantly Shikamaru, Choji, Lee and Naruto ran towards them. The only other Genin that were looking at the small group of Leaf ninja surrounding the two girls were Ryūko and Haru. The latter displaying far more curiosity than the other. The male turned to look at his teammate.

"I heard what you said to her, the blonde one," he said with a slight smile.

"So?"

"You liiiike her," Haru was smiling now.

"What? No I don't. _Really_, I don't."

"Then why did you tell her good luck?"

"She thanked us for helping out her team in the forest, I was just being nice to her."

"Alright, whatever."

"Seriously Haru, I don't like her in that way. I don't even know her properly," Ryūko rolled her eyes at his grin. "Anyway, have you guys had your matches yet? You looked a bit roughed up."

"Oh yeah! You should have seen us, Ryūko! I was up against that Akimichi kid and he wasn't that bad. In fact, he was pretty good, but I still won. Daichi fought against that Kabuto guy. He was really weird and he seemed to be some sort of medic ninja cause he was able to use chakra scalpels."

"He was good at using those scalpels. _Too_ good for a Genin," Daichi didn't look at his teammates when he said this, instead he looked at Kabuto. Actually, 'looked' probably isn't the right term, more like 'glared'. "I also felt him pull his punches. If we ever see him again, I say we keep an eye on him."

* * *

Haru found himself wandering aimlessly in the market district of Konoha. It was the day before the third Exam and he was feeling quite pleased with himself, he was even humming along to a song in his head. Right now he was thinking about the match ups for the Chuunin Exam finals.

Match 1: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji

Match 2: Nakahara Haru vs. Kankuro

Match 3: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Gaara

Match 4: Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

Match 5: Uchiha Ryūko vs. Aburame Shino

Match 6: Hyuuga Daichi vs. Winner of Match 5

He wasn't matched up Ryūko, Daichi, Neji or Gaara, so he couldn't complain about getting Kankuro. Haru was worried about Naruto though. When he and Neji shared a class at the academy, Haru could tell that the Hyuuga was going to be a very strong ninja, so he had doubts about Naruto winning his match.

_'Poor kid,' _he thought. _'He's going to have to work twice as hard as Neji this month to even have a chance of beating him.'_

Unlike his teammates, Haru wasn't all too keen on hard work unless it was extremely necessary, despite being warned by his sensei about the dangers of slacking off on training. Speaking of his teammates, Ryūko had mentioned getting some training from Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi apparently had an affinity that matched hers, so he was obviously the best choice for her.

_'Hideyoshi-sensei was heartbroken at that, but he understood. He has an affinity for water, not fire or lightning like Ryūko, and Daichi's getting private training at the Hyuuga compound with other members from the main house. At least I was there to cheer up sensei, and I got a couple of good water jutsu out of it as well.'_

As he continued to walk, he noticed two familiar girls walking towards him, however they were deep in conversation. He recognised the bright pink hair on the one on the left and the once long blonde hair on the girl on the right. "Hey Cherry, Angel!"

"Oh? Hey you're Haru, right?" asked 'Cherry'. "What's up with those nicknames?"

"That's my name," he replied in a cheery tone. "I make nicknames up for everyone. For example Daichi is 'Broody' and Ryūko is 'Pumpkin Sparkle', although I don't use that name around her or else she'll punch me. Anyway, where ya heading?"

"The hospital. I'm dropping off some flowers for Lee and Ino's just tagging along."

"Oh that's sweet. Mind if I tag along too? I've got nothing else I've got to do today and this seems like a good idea."

"Of course you can come! I'm sure Lee would appreciate it."

* * *

The short walk to the hospital was filled with small conversations about those participating in the Chuunin Exam Finals and who the three Genin think will win each match.

"Ryūko and Daichi will win their matches for sure!"

"Oh yeah? Well Daichi is facing the winner of the fifth match; what if that's Ryūko?" Ino asked Haru.

"I don't know, maybe Daichi will win because Ryūko will have just fought someone."

"I have a question, Haru. If Daichi and Ryūko went against each other with full chakra, full supply of tools and scrolls and no injuries on them, who would win?" inquired Sakura.

"That is a difficult one. In close combat, Daichi would have the upper hand due to his clan's jutsu, which he is extremely skilled at, however he would still need to watch out for Ryūko's sword. Ryūko has a larger variety of ninjutsu and would therefore be good a long range attacks, something that Daichi is quite weak against. She also has a little bit of genjutsu from her Sharingan. Although it would be a very tough fight, I believe that Ryūko would win."

"What about you? Would you win against either of them?"

Haru laughed and replied, "I'm definitely not weak, but against those monsters? No way! I'd have a better chance at catching that demon cat that always gets loose in Konoha."

When they arrived at the hospital, they asked one of the assistants where Lee's room was and headed there. Inside they found a few cards and a balloon tied to one of the posts of the bed. Sakura placed the flowers in a vase and stood next to the bed. Lee was unconscious with his arm in a sling and bandages wrapped around most of his body.

"I hope he gets better soon."

"So do I, Sakura," Ino said.

"How about we go to a café and cheer ourselves up with some coffee and cake? There's a good one just five minutes away and we could pick up Daichi as well seeing as the Hyuuga compound is just a two minute detour? Although he doesn't look like the type, Daichi likes meeting new people and conversing with them, and this would also be a great opportunity to get to know one another."

"Sounds good," Sakura said with a bright smile. The three of them left the room, barely noticing the lack of hospital staff in the main waiting area.

* * *

**A Couple of Minutes Before the Trio Arrived**

Naruto woke up to the sight of white walls all around him and the smell of anaesthetic, which could only mean one thing: he was in the hospital. He sat up and looked to his left to see Shikamaru smirking at him. "Hey. Finally awake?"

"Am I in the hospital?"

"Yeah, you were out for three days."

"Three days?" it took a few minutes for that to sink into the Jinchuriki's head. "THREE DAYS?!" he immediately stood up on his bed and looked Shikamaru in the eyes. "Shikamaru, when are the final matches?!"

"Tomorr-" he wasn't even able to finish his sentence when Naruto grabbed the collar of his mesh shirt.

"WHAT?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?! I don't have time to sleep here! Where's Ero-Sennin, huh? I need him to supervise my training!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Naruto quickly let him ago and began to lift up pillows, blankets and even the bed's mattress while muttering something about finding his clothes. "Calm down a little! There's no point in panicking the day before, after all resting could be considered part of your training," Shikamaru then felt sick all of a sudden. He looked around the room to see what was causing it, but no one other than Naruto was in the room. A quick glance at the young boy showed that he too felt whatever it was. The two exited the hospital room and despite the logic part of their mind telling them to go the opposite way, they went towards the source. Naruto pulled open the door to Lee's room slowly, and what they saw inside made them react quickly.

Shikamaru used his clan jutsu to trap Gaara's body just as he was about to kill Lee with his sand and Naruto punched his face. Both Gaara and Shikamaru stumbled back a little bit and the Nara scolded the Uzumaki, telling him that he can feel what Gaara feels. "You already beat him in the preliminaries, do you have some kind of grudge against him or something?" asked Shikamaru.

"No. I'm going to kill him because I want him dead."

"Well obviously you grew up in a bad environment," said Shikamaru. He didn't know why, but this guy felt really off. '_I guess I'll try bluffing and see how that goes,' he thought. "We know that you're strong, since we saw your match with him. But... this guy here and I are pretty strong as well. We didn't show our strongest move in the preliminaries, so you still have no idea what we're capable of, and let's not forget that it's two against one here. You're at a disadvantage." _

"I'm only going to say this once. If you bother me, I will kill you."

It was then that Naruto decided that a big outburst and pointing his finger at the boy was a great idea. "You can't kill me! You may claim to be a monster, but I have the real thing inside of me, dattebayo!"

'_What the hell is this kid on about?' Shikamaru was looking at him like he had two heads._

There was silence for a few moments as Gaara looked at Naruto, like he was analysing him just by staring into his eyes. "A monster, eh? Then I am the same. As you said," he gestured to the Nara with his eyes as he could not move his body due to said boy's jutsu, "I did not grow up in a nice environment. I took the life of the woman who was called my mother when I was born. To become the ultimate ninja, my father used a ninja technique to bind an incarnate of sand to me. I have been a monster since birth. It is called Shukaku, and it is a living soul of an elder priest from Sunagakure."

"Wow, what a twisted way to show love," replied Shikamaru.

"Love?" Gaara said with obvious disgust. "Don't measure me by your values. Let me tell you a little about my family and the links I have with them. They are lumps of meat linked by hatred and murderous intent, the only ties I have with them are the ones I like to wrap around their necks.

"I stole my mother's life and was created to become the village's masterpiece, and as the Kazekage's son, my father taught me the secrets of ninja techniques. I grew being overprotected, spoiled, and left to myself. For a while, I thought _that_ was love. Until an... 'incident' happened," a sadistic smile grew on the boy's face. "Starting from when I was six, my father tried to have me assassinated more times than I can count. A being that is too strong eventually becomes an embodiment of fear. Since I was born, my mind was unstable and the village idiots finally noticed that my emotions were unpredictable.

"To my father, I was the village's trump card, but I soon turned into a potential threat. So why do I still exist and live? I asked myself that question, numerous times, however I could not find an answer."

'_I understand... he's the same as me..._' thought Naruto with sadness and fear.

"I have therefore concluded that I exist to kill everyone other than myself, and I finally found relief inside the fear of being assassinated at any time. I fight only for myself, and only love myself. As long as there are people in this world, to make me experience the joy of living, my existence will remain."

Shikamaru almost took an involuntary step back. As the Suna ninja neared the end of his speech, his eyes became hollow and emotionless, and the lack of pupils freaked the Nara out almost as much as the smile Gaara had a moment ago.

Naruto's knees were shaking and his lip was quivering from his mouth being open for so long, even his eyes were beginning to sting from not being able to blink. The Jinchuriki stood a step back, and despite Shikamaru's attempts to get his attention, the Uzumaki never looked away from Gaara. Sensing an opportunity, the Suna Jinchuriki willed his sand to split into two and fly towards the two Leaf Genin. Just before the sand met its mark, Maito Gai appeared at the door and commanded Gaara to stop. The sand fell harmlessly to the floor and the boy clutched his head like he was experiencing a severe headache. A memory of when he was a child flashed through his mind and instantly his anger came back.

Instead of lashing out like usual, Gaara remained calm while walking towards the exit with one final statement. "I will definitely kill you all."

* * *

**With Haru, Daichi, Sakura and Ino**

"Aw yeah! Coffee flavoured cake and actual coffee!" exclaimed the excited young blond boy as he sat down with his food and drink. The small group of Genin had chosen a quiet booth in the corner of the café, and it was also directly next to a large window which gave them a pleasant view of Konoha. The shop itself was two stories tall, the bottom floor was where customers paid for food and drinks with a few tables while the top floor was exclusively tables and booths. Haru and Sakura sat on one side and Ino and Daichi sat on the other.

"It amazes me how excited you get over coffee flavoured sweets," Daichi had only ordered a cup of chamomile tea, claiming that he didn't really have a sweet tooth. Ino ordered a cup of green tea and a hazel nut cookie while Sakura had a black coffee with a small brownie.

"What can I say? Coffee is the sh-" it was then he noticed a mother and her young child sitting not too far away from them, "sugar."

"What?" asked Ino, not realising that Haru had changed his sentence on purpose.

"Never mind. Anyway, how goes the training Broody? Are ya ready for tomorrow?"

Daichi put down his tea. "About that... I'm dropping the exam."

"_What?!_ But you got so far!"

"Yes I know, it's just that... seeing Neji in the preliminaries got me thinking. He took down Hinata, a main house member, without breaking a sweat. I have sparred with Hinata a few times and even though I win every time due to having more experience with the **Jūken**, it's still always a close fight. If a branch house member is stronger than I, then I do not deserve to be a Chuunin," seeing their reactions of shock, Daichi quickly added, "but that doesn't mean I look down on branch house members as lesser beings, it's just that they do not get the training that main house members get, therefore it should be impossible for them to have greater skills."

"I think I understand what you're trying to say. It's a shame that you're quitting, but at least why you're doing it is certainly reasonable," Sakura said.

"Thank you, Sakura-san. I'm afraid I must leave to continue my training, however it's been a pleasure meeting both of you and I have enjoyed the conversations we have had, despite them being so short," the Hyuuga stood up and bowed to the two females.

"You two, Daichi-san," replied Ino. She felt nervous around Team 4 when she first met them, purely because they were obviously stronger than her own team, but now she felt more relaxed. She blamed that on Haru's Naruto-like behaviour.

When Daichi left after saying goodbye to everyone, the remaining three turned back to each other and continued talking.

"Did Ryūko say when she was coming back from training? I haven't heard anything from Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke."

"I'm afraid not, Cherry, although it's not unusual for Pumpkin Sparkle to disappear for a while. Don't worry though, she always comes back without a scratch so she and your teammate are probably a-okay!"

* * *

**One Week Earlier**

Ryūko sat on her knees clutching her burnt arm. She and Sasuke had spent the day learning the **Chidori** and the most either of them had been able to do was injure their arms with unstable lightning.

"Come on you two, one more time," said Kakashi from his perch upon a large rock. Groaning in pain and despair, the Uchiha siblings stood up and went through the familiar signs and held out one hand in front of them while the other held onto its wrist. A ball of lightning appeared on their hands while other bits of lightning sparked out of said ball. The two ran at the large rock in front of them where many scorched remains of previous attempts were kept and threw their hands out in front of them, however for around the fifth time that day, the **Chidori's** failed and knocked them onto their backs. "Alright, that's enough for today. Come get some water and bandages for your arms and after some rest you can try again."

During the three weeks they'd spent together, Ryūko and Sasuke hardly spoke a word to each other, despite Kakashi's attempts at getting them to bond. In fact, that was one of the reasons he had accepted Ryūko as a temporary student. Before the start of the one month break, the Copy-Cat ninja had wanted to train Sasuke by himself so he could focus on him more, however when Ryūko came to him for training he agreed for two reasons. One: he wanted to get the siblings to get along. Two: it gave him an excuse to keep a closer eye on the Cursed Seal. So far his own seal he put on top of the marks held strong and they hadn't acted up once.

The weeks they had spent with the Hatake were gruelling as he never let them slack off. The first week was filled with chakra control exercises and practising any jutsu they already knew. Then during the second week they practised building up their speed and strength, and finally the third week was weapon/ninja tools training and a bit more speed training. Now for the last week, they're learning Kakashi's own original jutsu: the Chidori. Before they started, Team 7's sensei had warned them about how difficult it would be, but that never discouraged them. Instead, it actually made them more determined to master the jutsu. The sibling rivalry, despite being a bad thing in Kakashi's eyes, was actually proving to be useful when the two tried their best to beat the other.

"Come on you two, get up, I want to see these **Chidori's** perfected by the time I get back," Kakashi jumped down from the rock and began to climb down the hill they were on. There was a river at the bottom filled with fish and if he wanted them to do well, they would have to have full stomachs and plenty of rest. To give them time, Kakashi walked down slowly and admired the scenery. All around the river were trees, grass and occasionally some flowers. It was a nice part of Konoha, it was a shame that not many people got to see it.

As soon as he caught eight fish (three for Sasuke and Ryūko and only two for himself because he didn't need the energy as much as they did) he headed back up the hill. The Copy-Cat ninja didn't know what to expect when he reached the top twenty minutes later. Maybe Sasuke and Ryūko fighting or arguing, but not this.

The Uchiha siblings were sitting with their backs to the rock and leaning on each other, unconscious and not likely to get up for a long time. On either side of them was a hole in the rock that darkened around the edge of it. Both holes looked to be about half an arm's length deep and wide enough to fit a hand in. Proof of their success was on their arms where Ryūko's metal plate was ripped off and Sasuke's arm warmer was burnt and torn. Kakashi had a genuine smile under his mask for the first time in a quite a while, happy that he had somewhat been responsible for this once in a lifetime image.

"They're gonna be great ninja someday, right, Obito?," Kakashi said quietly, yet gleefully, as he thought about his late friend.

* * *

**A/N: Well here's chapter 3. I think I could have written this better, but to be honest I just want to get the Chuunin Exams over and done with as soon as possible so that I can get on with OC tortu- I mean giving my OCs a wonderful and happy life.**

**Big thank you to xchrispx, bouff2, Yusuke Kurosaki, SL13, Arianna Le Fay and AnimePrincessRach for following this story (I have so little followers that I can actually name all of them in less than a minute).**

**Another thank you to xchrispx, XKuroSoraX, SL13 and Arianna Le Fay for adding this story to your favourites list.**

**I won't add a preview to this chapter or any review responses because I've already responded to my one review via PM. Remember guys, the more reviews/follows/favourites I get (mainly reviews) the faster the next chapter comes out.**

**P.S. I can tell that some of you think that Ino is a candidate for Ryūko's pairing, but technically ALMOST every character is because I'm still deciding and I need suggestions. Here's an updated list of pairings I won't do:**

**Naruto/Sasuke (Not this fic, maybe another one though)**

**OC/Naruto**

**OC/OC**

**OC/Gai**

**OC/Asuma**

**I am completely open to yaoi/yuri, so don't hold back. Here is a list of pairings that I encourage you to think about:**

**Naruto/Sakura**

**Sasuke/Some future OC**

**OC/Ino**

**OC/Anko**

**OC/Hinata**

**OC/Shikamaru**

**OC/Neji**

**Have a pleasant day!**


	4. The Invasion

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs. If I did, Naruto wouldn't have broken his promise to Kushina by marrying Hinata. Kushina wanted him to marry someone like her (for example: Sakura)._

_'Thinking.'_

"Talking."

**"Jutsu."**

_Flashback_

**Chapter 4: The Invasion**

Everyone was present for the Chuunin Exams tournament except for two people: Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Ryūko. The other competitors were standing in a line in the middle of the arena with the proctor in front of them. Those that were aware of Kakashi's bad habit knew that the siblings would be late, possibly even disqualified. Haru was looking around nervously, wondering where his teammate was, however he couldn't see her anywhere. Ino and Sakura sat beside each other in the stands around the edge of the arena, the latter worrying about her crush while the former was just bored. Just as everyone except Naruto and Neji left the field below, Daichi sat down next to the girls.

"Hello Sakura, Ino," he greeted. "Are you excited for the matches?"

"I am for some of them, but I think they could have done a better job at matching them up," said Ino.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about Sasuke and Ryūko being late. Ino, you know they were picked at random, right?" replied Sakura.

"I know, but they shouldn't have. I mean come on, Naruto and Neji? Seriously? That match won't last a minute."

"Good point."

"Let's see how this plays out, shall we?" Daichi turned back towards the arena. Ryūko _hated_ being late with a burning passion, so he knew that she was probably running at full speed right now towards them, maybe even with her sword already drawn. The Hyuuga smiled at the image that just appeared in his mind. Ryūko had used a strong fire jutsu on the large wooden door that everyone entered through and busted through the flaming rubble, sword in hand and shouting, 'I'm here' as loud as she could. Despite that being the complete opposite of the girl's personality, Daichi chuckled slightly to himself.

* * *

**In the Arena**

Neji smirked, "No matter how much you train, you are still fated to lose to me today, Uzumaki."

"You don't know me and you can't see the future!" Naruto shouted back. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Hinata!"

"Begin!" yelled the proctor as he got out of range.

Neji decided that he needed to finish this match quickly so that the matches whose ends were invisible to him would draw closer. He moved forward and struck at Naruto's arms and legs, disabling him, however he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Dozens of clones appeared around him. "How foolish," the boy muttered as he activated his Byakugan. "Damn it," he cursed when he realised that due them being shadow clones, he was unable to tell which was the real one.

The clones that were surrounding him rushed at him all at once with kunai drawn. The Hyuuga placed his hands on two of the clones that were running at him and pushed down, flipping over them. Another clone that was in front of him kicked upwards and seemed to hit Neji's chin, but he merely faked it. Neji spun in the air and kicked two clones in the face, dispelling them instantly. With his Byakugan activated, the boy was able to see the two clones coming from behind him and counter their attacks by striking their chests with his palms. Anyone that knew what a Hyuuga was capable would have realised that a blow like that would have killed someone, or at least critically injure them.

Gai thought back to his student's fight with the Hyuuga heiress and frowned. Neji had almost killed Hinata, and due to the Hyuuga's laws, Neji would have been executed on the spot if he had accomplished that.

The real Naruto summoned more clones that immediately went to attack the Hyuuga, but it was futile. With his jutsu and Byakugan, Neji was almost invincible. Every attack that came at him, he would either dodge or counter with ease, and then dispel the clone. The older boy just couldn't be hit, no matter how many clones Naruto created. Just then, Neji ran through a group of clones towards one of them in particular and struck the place where its heart would have been. Thinking that because this Naruto stayed away from the fight, he would be the original.

How wrong he was.

The clone dispelled just as another two clones leapt at Neji from behind, fists drawn back. The two Narutos thought that they had the upper hand when their fists connected, however they were sorely disappointed when a chakra barrier appeared around Neji. The Hyuuga spun in a circle with his arms out stretched while shouting, "** Hakkesho Kaiten**."

_'What?! But that's a main house jutsu, how could he have learned it? Has he been watching main house members spar and copied their moves? Not only that, but his __**Hakkesho Kaiten**__... is stronger than mine...'_ thought Daichi. His fists were clenched in his lap. If a branch house member was _this_ strong, then he had a lot of training to catch up on.

The shadow clone dispelled from the block and the real Naruto fell backwards. Not wanting to be beaten this easily, Naruto summoned another six clones. The group of them stood in a circle around Neji and charged at him at the same time, however the boy used the same jutsu again, dispelling them instantly. When Naruto got up, Neji smirked and said, "You're in range."

The older Genin got into a stance that was far too familiar to Daichi.

Neji struck Naruto over and over, never hesitating in his movement. The boy was closing each of Naruto's chakra points with exact accuracy. Eventually, after shouting the finisher move, Neji struck Naruto's chest, hard, and the boy was knocked onto his back, blood dripping from his mouth. Just when Neji thought the match was over, the Jinchuriki shakily got to his feet.

* * *

"Well would you look at that? The kid's still got some fight left in him," Shikamaru commented. He, Shino and Haru were leaning on the railing in the competitors' box at the edge of the arena. They were with the rest of the present Genins, however they didn't seem to be taking much interest in the fight below. "I never would have imagined that little squirt getting this far, but he is Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja."

"Well Shikamaru, if there's anything I've learned while being a ninja, it's that what you look like, how you act, what gender you are, or how old you are doesn't matter, you always have potential to be strong," said Haru with a smile on his face as he thought back to his times in the academy. The boy had lower than average grades and even lower ninja ability, but that didn't stop him from flirting with every girl in his class. Haru was known for his inability to take most things seriously as he would rather flirt with a girl than spar with a classmate, which would usually result in him being knocked out. He was also seen as the class fool and would constantly be made fun of by both boys and girls alike, except one person.

Uchiha Ryūko always kept to herself in the classroom, never speaking unless spoken to, never making eye-contact if it could be helped, and never participating in any class activities. Especially the daily 'Laugh at Haru' game. It was because of this that Haru took a shine to the girl. Despite her always rejecting his advances, Haru never gave up on her. Most girls would find this romantic, but Ryūko just got pissed off when he wouldn't take no for an answer. The Uchiha never hit him or looked down on him, but man, she could yell at the boy.

The Nakahara chuckled to himself at the memory.

_Flashback_

_"So, you excited, Pumpkin Sparkle?"_

_"For the last time Nakahara, stop calling me that!"_

_"But it's cute, just like you!"_

_Ryūko glared at the slightly younger boy. "Call me cute again, and I swear-"_

_"Silence!" yelled the sensei at the front of the room. All the students sat down in their seats, Ryūko being in the top right seat next to the window, like always. The girl groaned when Haru sat down next to her, sporting a familiar cheesy grin. "Alright class, today you find out your Genin team. You be all be in this team until you reach the rank of Chuunin, like myself, so if you don't like your teammates... that's too bad. Team 1 :, Inuzuka Nagisa..."_

_"So, who's team do you want to be in?" Haru asked._

_"Not yours," Ryūko replied._

_"Oh come on! You can't tell me that you don't like me."_

_"But I _don't_ like you."_

_"If you didn't like me, then you would have made fun of me with everyone else. Even Neji and Daichi do it, and they're from the Hyuuga clan!"_

_"Maybe I just don't like taking part in pointless games."_

_When the teacher said her name, Ryūko immediately turned her head to face him. "Team 4: Uchiha Ryūko-"_

_'Come on, please not someone stupid.'_

_"Hyuuga Daichi-"_

_'Alright, I can live with that.'_

_"And Nakahara Haru, your Jonin sensei will be-"_

_'SON OF A-!'_

_"Woo hoo! Aw yeah!" Ryūko's thought was stopped short when Haru exclaimed loudly, and when he began to do a small dance, she almost snapped. If it wasn't for their sensei, she probably would have hit him._

_"Sit down, Haru!" the rest of the class burst into giggles and the boy sat back down sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and trying to hide the blush that now stained his cheeks. "As I was saying, your Jonin sensei will be Inoue Hideyoshi. Team 5: Aburame Jin..."_

_Flashback End_

Haru grinned when the memory ended and rested his head on his hands, still leaning over the railing. Shikamaru and Shino just stared at him strangely, wondering what the changing facial expressions were about. _'He comes out with something smart and now this? I just don't get this guy.'_ thought the Nara. He looked at Shino, but the Genin just shrugged his shoulders.

The crowd cheering snapped him out of his trance. He looked down to see Neji being carried away on a stretcher and Naruto running around like a crazy person. Haru smiled as Naruto walked back up to the competitor's box. As soon as the Jinchuriki reached them, the older blond gave him a high five. "Nice one, kiddo!"

"Hehe, thanks Haru! Hey, isn't your match next?"

"Yup!"

"Can Nakahara Haru and Kankuro come down to the arena?" asked the proctor. Haru's eyes gleamed as he grabbed onto the railing with one hand and leapt over, but a voice stopped him mid-jump.

"I forfeit!" called Kankuro from Haru's right hand side.

"WHAT?!" the Genin cried as he caught himself before he fell down into the field below. He just barely hung onto the railing with both of his hands and one foot on the edge of the box, the other just dangling in the air.

"You heard me, I forfeit the match."

Haru was silent as his mind processed the information. His mouth was open wide and his eyes glared holes into the puppet master's head.

"WHAT?! You're forfeiting? You bast-!"

"Nakahara Haru wins by default. Can Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara please come down?" he called once again. He put a finger to his earpiece and after a few seconds, he nodded. "Uchiha Sasuke's and Gaara's match has been delayed due to the former's absence, so we will proceed with the fourth match. Can Nara Shikamaru and Temari please come down?"

* * *

One match later, and the two Uchiha siblings were still yet to appear, so Ryūko had two minutes to show up or she'd be disqualified.

"Hey!" shouted Haru, getting the proctor's attention. "Why the hell does Sasuke's match get delayed and Ryūko gets disqualified? What kind of bullshit is that?!"

"We have to move onto the second round, we can't waste time. Besides, if she gets disqualified, then after another two minutes, Sasuke gets disqualified as well," the Chuunin replied.

Grumbling in annoyance, the Nakahara crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. If Ryūko didn't show up, he would riot. Not literally, cause that could get him in serious trouble, but he would riot in his mind. Yeah, he would do that. Just when the two minutes ended. A puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the arena.

"Sorry we're late, we got lost on the road of life," said Kakashi with a one-eyed smile. Ryūko looked ready to kill someone and Sasuke had his usually emotionless face on, as well as a new outfit.

The proctor once again put a finger to his earpiece and nodded. "Alright, we can now start the match between Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara. You can just head up to the competitor's box with everyone else," he gestured to Ryūko.

As soon as the girl entered the box, she was lifted off of her feet when two strong arms wrapped around her torso. "Ryūko!" exclaimed an excited Genin.

"Haru..." she said with a muffled voice due to her face being pressed into said boy's shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Put. Me. Down," even though you could barely hear her, the unmistakable tone of anger was obviously present.

"Ah... sure," Haru said as he gingerly put his teammate down. Her hair was slightly messed up at the front, so the boy fixed it by sweeping some of the hair back to its original position. "Good as new," he said before quickly walking back to his spot by the railing. The Uchiha stood next to him and rested her arms on the metal bar.

"So, what did I miss?" she asked.

"Well the first match was Neji and Naruto, the winner being Naruto," Ryūko raised an eyebrow, and Haru just nodded before continuing. "Then it was meant to be me and Kankuro, but that asshole forfeited before the match even started. Then it was meant to be Sasuke and Gaara, but they delayed the match when he didn't show up, so instead Shikamaru fought Temari, and despite pretty much winning, he also forfeited."

"I see."

"Yup, so now it's Sasuke and Gaara- what the fuck is that?" cried Haru as feathers began to fall into the arena.

Ryūko activated her Sharingan and when she realised what it was, she turned around to face Haru and-

"Five more minutes, mummy..." he mumbled.

Ryūko sweat-dropped at the sight of her teammate sprawled on the ground with drool leaking from his mouth. Sighing, she used release jutsu on herself before using it on Haru. The blond sat up straight and looked around.

"I'm up! What happened? Are we being invaded? Who's invading us? What's going on?" with a quick slap from the Uchiha, he stopped asking questions and looked at her. Everything was happening so fast, so Ryūko explained everything as quickly as she could

"A genjutsu went off. Yes. Sound and Sand. Most people have fallen asleep, those that haven't are fighting back. That answer all your questions?"

"... Yes, I think so. What should we do?"

"We fight back, of course. Now come on, let's go find Daichi" said Ryūko as she grabbed Haru's hand and dragged him along behind her. When the two found their remaining teammate, the Hyuuga was keeping any enemy ninja away from Sakura, who was currently releasing Ino from the jutsu. Not too far ahead, they could see their sensei fighting a group of ninja with Kakashi and Gai. The trio seemed to be having fun.

"You two certainly took your time," Daichi then noticed the two holding hands. "Ah, I see. Well then, don't let this invasion disturb your... 'alone time'," he teased. The Hyuuga turned away from them and smirked.

For the first time in a long time, the female Uchiha turned as red as her Sharingan, and Haru wasn't any different. "We're not- I mean I'd never... Daichi, you asshole," Ryūko stuttered as she pulled her hand away from the blond. He was too shocked to respond, however after a few moments, he turned his head to face her. Ryūko glared at his shit-eating grin and wiggling eyebrows before storming off to find some ninja to kill. Sakura and Ino, who had woken up just in time to witness the comical scene, couldn't help but giggle at the two Genins' reactions.

* * *

After a few minutes and a lot of dead Sound ninja, Ryūko returned to the group, however Sakura was missing. Ino told Ryūko that Sakura had gone off with Naruto and Shikamaru to find Sasuke and Gaara. Ryūko was about to go after them when Ino also told her that if she saw the Uchiha, she was supposed to tell her that Hideyoshi had ordered her to help defend the village.

Ryūko sighed. "Alright, so what's the plan?"

"Kakashi-sensei and Hideyoshi-sensei told us to head for the academy and see if any students still need to be evacuated. Then after that, we just need to go around and kill or capture any enemy ninja," Daichi informed her.

"Ugh, fine. Let's go," Ryūko, Daichi, Haru and Ino left the arena and began to jump from roof to roof, the quickest way to the ninja academy. Any enemy shinobi they encountered were relatively easy to take down, so the trip was pretty smooth. When they arrived at the academy, they could see Iruka and a couple of other Chuunin defending a small group of students. Ryūko recognised one of them to be the Hokage's grandson.

"Let's go Team 4!" yelled Haru as he pulled out his kamas, but one look at Ino and he continued to say, "Plus Angel!"

The Genin's outburst attracted the attention of three Sound ninja. The three ninja growled and leapt at the Konoha ninja, however Team 4 met them in the air halfway. Daichi blocked an incoming fist that was heading for his face, while Haru used his twin weapons to block a kunai. Ryūko batted away a couple of shuriken that one of the Sound ninja threw at her before swiping at him with her sword. Ino jumped around them and made a beeline for the children.

The six ninja broke away from each other before attacking again. Daichi tried to jab at one of them with his clan jutsu, but was only successful twice. Haru managed to cut one's shoulder but he was soon knocked backwards when he was kicked in the stomach. The Uchiha had a massive advantage with her Sharingan, therefore she was able to block and counter any strikes, and with a fast swipe of her sword, her opponent fell to the ground with a split open throat. Turning back to face her teammates, she saw Haru's opponent in the air above the boy with a kunai ready to throw, however she threw her sword at him with a quick flick of her wrist. The sword just grazed his hand, making him drop the weapon and giving Haru enough time to strike him down. Daichi easily disabled his opponent after he struck his legs a few times.

The Chuunin sensei had finished with their enemies not long after, so they thanked Team 4, and Ino for protecting the children and giving them medical attention. Once they were sure that the academy was safe, Team 4 (and Ino) began their journey around the village, picking off the occasional invader and helping a few civilians.

Despite the village being destroyed, everything was going somewhat the way Team 4 and Ino wanted it to. Just as they were about to head back to the arena, an earthquake made them wobble a little bit and almost knocked them off of the building they were standing on."What in Kami's name was that?" Ino asked.

"Uh... guys? Turn around," Haru told them. The other three turned around just in time to see a giant sand demon launching balls of air at a giant toad in the sky. Daichi activated his Byakugan and gasped.

"It looks that red haired Suna ninja is on top of that thing and... is that Naruto?!"

"You know Daichi, calling someone a giant toad isn't really a nice-"

"No you idiot, he's _on top_ of that toad, but it doesn't look like he can hold onto it very well," the Hyuuga interrupted.

"Hang on, the toad looks like a summons. When did that kid learn how to summon?" Ryūko was by far impressed. Not only did the dead last beat a genius, he also knew how to summon? The younger Genin was just full of surprises today. "Let's go check it out. Maybe Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru are there too."

* * *

When they arrived at the scene, they found Sasuke slumped up against a tree with a badly burned arm. Ryūko recognised it as chakra burns from overuse of the **Chidori**. Ino was instantly at his side with bandages. "What happened?" asked the boy's sister.

"Gaara... he turned into some kind of sand monster, and... Naruto used a summon to try and beat him," he groaned in pain when the Yamanaka touched a particularly sensitive spot on his arm.

"We need to get you out of here, we'd only be a hindrance to Naruto at this point," Ryūko moved to help Sasuke up, but she stopped when he held up his good hand.

"No... Sakura's still... up there," he pointed towards the tree opposite him. The female Uchiha looked up to see the pink haired girl trapped against the tree trunk by a hand made of sand. "I don't have any chakra left, but Ryūko... maybe you could-"

"Yeah, add fire to sand and it turns to glass. Got it," the kunoichi ran up the large tree until she was standing on a branch directly in front of her brother's teammate. Using a weak fire jutsu, she turned the sand surrounding the younger girl into glass. "Haru! Help me out here!" with his kamas and her sword, the two members of Team 4 were able to chip away at the glass until the girl was freed. The Uchiha put the girl over her shoulder and jumped down with the Nakahara behind her.

"We need to go, or we're gonna eventually be crushed by one of those things up there," commented Haru.

"Agreed. Alright, let's move," ordered Daichi. With Ino's help, Sasuke was able keep up with the other ninja when they jumped from tree to tree through the forest, Daichi always keeping his Byakugan activated in case a large foot came towards the group. They got the two injured Genin to a nearby hospital, Ino choosing to stay behind and help take care of some of the patients, claiming that she was of more use to the hospital than she was out in the battlefield.

* * *

A few days later was the Sandaime's funeral. Every ninja attended, all dressed in black. Ryūko wore a pair of plain black trousers and a black shirt, as did Daichi and Haru. No one brought any weapons or headbands. In front of them was a large memorial with a picture of Sarutobi Hiruzen and various other ninja that were killed during the invasion. Konohamaru's tears fell to the ground and joined the rain that heavily poured from the dark clouds above. Most people stared at the ground, unsure of what to do, while others closed their eyes in a silent prayer.

One by one, each and every person lay a flower on top of the Third Hokage's coffin, those that were close to him gave their own version of a goodbye. Despite not knowing him very well, Ryūko was grateful to the Hokage, especially after the Uchiha clan massacre. He always came around to visit the clan compound, just to make sure that everything was okay. The female Uchiha closed her eyes and thought back to that dreadful day. She gently placed her fingers just below her eyes and sighed. Due to her earning the Sharingan that day, her eyes were a constant reminder of what transpired.

Even now, she could clearly see the bodies of her fellow clansmen and clanswomen, all covered in blood, but the worst image of all was the one of her parents slumped over with their throats cut open. The only thing redder than what covered the walls of the compound, was her older brother's eyes. Ryūko shivered.

She would never forget the devil's stare.

Opening her eyes, she looked at Sasuke who was just a few feet away. He was staring directly at the Hokage's picture. Most people would think he didn't feel anything for the old man, but Ryūko wasn't most people. She was his _sister_.

_Sadness. Anger. Loneliness. Regret._

She could read him like an open book. She wanted to walk over there and embrace her little brother, but she didn't, and she had her reasons. She had to hate him, she had to push him away, she had to close him off...

_'Damn you Itachi...'_

Eventually, people began to leave the area until there was just a handful of people left: the Hokage's family, Ryūko, Sasuke and Naruto. Not wanting to intrude, she took one last look at the picture and started to walk away, not bothering to see if Sasuke was following.

As soon as she got home, Ryūko took off her shoes and left them by the door. Walking straight up the stairs, she continued along a quiet corridor until she got to a door. Even though every door looked exactly the same, she knew this was her room due to her memorising the short journey there.

Opening the door, she was met with the sight of a plain room. There was a queen sized, dark green bed on the left side of the room, right against the middle of the wall and a large Uchiha symbol above it. On either side of it was a mahogany bedside cabinet. On one of the cabinets was a lamp and an alarm clock, and on the other was a picture of Team 4. Hideyoshi had his tongue sticking out and his eyes crooked, while on his left was Daichi, Haru on his right and Ryūko was in front of him. Ryūko was smirking while Daichi just stared at the camera, no expression on his face, and Haru had his familiar shit-eating grin and a thumb raised. Ryūko smiled at that; she could always count on Haru to brighten up her day.

Just below the window on the wall opposite the door was a double drawer desk and on top of that were different framed pictures, many that Sasuke did not want, so Ryūko kept them instead. All of them held some kind of importance to her. She picked up the first one which was the day that Itachi graduated the academy. He was standing proudly with his headband on his forehead and their father behind him with his hands on Itachi's shoulders. Ryūko and Sasuke were holding onto Itachi's hands and smiling. He was seven at the time while she and Sasuke were only three and two, respectively. So young, so unaware of what was yet to happen. Sighing she moved onto the next one. Now she had just graduated the academy, but this time there was no smile present, and she was alone. The next picture was Sasuke's graduation day, and just like Ryūko's, there was no smile. The rest of the pictures were either one of the Uchiha siblings mastering a jutsu or it was just a picture of the family together.

Besides a mirror, a small weapon rack and a bookcase with books and scrolls, there wasn't anything else in the room. Moving on to what she was originally here to do, Ryūko entered another door that led to a bathroom, however before she went in she grabbed some clean clothes. A dark green, short sleeved top with the Uchiha symbol on the back and a pair of black trousers. Once she finished stripping out of her wet clothes, she stepped into the shower and turned it on. She couldn't help but gasp when cold water hit her at first, but she soon relaxed when it was replaced with delightful hot water. Because her skin was used to the cold, the hot water stung at first but eventually it soothed her tense muscles.

Like always, she ran her hands over every mark her body has ever received. She did this to remind herself of why she became a ninja, why she chose to go through the pain and why she chose to commit herself to a life of death and suffering. She grit her teeth together when her hand ran over a very familiar scar that was on her left side, directly below her left breast. It was caused by a somewhat large piece of glass that lodged itself into her when she thrown out of a window by her older brother.

The amount of hatred she had for that man could rival Sasuke's, maybe it was even greater than his. Not only had he scarred her mentally by killing almost everyone she had ever loved in front of her, but he had also marked her physically. Screaming in anger, she punched the tiled wall in front of her, however she immediately regretted it. She clutched her now bruised and slightly bleeding hand against her chest and swore under her breath. Quickly, she turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a towel and drying herself the best she could with only one hand. After a gruelling six minutes, she changed into the clean clothes and headed downstairs, choosing not to check and see if Sasuke was in his room. She entered the kitchen and checked one of the cupboards above the sink. She pulled out some bandages and disinfectant and began to work.

She winced as the disinfectant touched her open wounds, but she got over the pain pretty quickly. Once she was satisfied, she wrapped the bandages around her hand and tied it in a knot, tightly so that it wouldn't easily come undone, but not too tight that it would hurt.

A minute or so later, Sasuke came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. He didn't spare a glance at his sister, choosing to turn on the kettle and get a cup from a cupboard. He placed a tea bag in the cup and waited for the water to finish boiling. Ryūko considered asking Sasuke if he was okay, but decided against it and instead turned away from him went to her room again to take a small nap.

* * *

**A/N: Unfortunately this 5000 word chapter was all I could shit out today instead of my usual 7000, but I'll try to make it up to you guys next time with an 8000 word chapter.**

**As you can see, I tried to go a bit into Ryūko's experience with the Uchiha clan massacre, as well as show more interaction with Team 4. The next chapter will begin with Naruto and Jiraiya going after Tsunade and Sasuke following them when he hears about Itachi. I don't know what I'll do with Ryūko during that. Maybe I'll get her to go after Sasuke and stop him from being an idiot, or maybe I'll get her to do something else in Konoha. Who knows? Suggestions, please?**

**Yes, Haru has a major crush Ryūko, he has for a long time. He just flirts with every other girl so that no one would call him out on his crush.**

**I know a lot of you will have some questions about Ryūko's thoughts on Itachi and why she pretends to hate Sasuke, so I'll tell you why...**

**Just kidding, no spoilers ;)**

**Review Responses:**

_**xXxWhiteWolf14xXx: "I've been wanting a story like this for a while and I'm so glad I found one! Also for the pairing, I would love to see Ino/Ryūko. Please update soon and keep up the amazing work!"**_

**First of all, thank you so much for that lovely review! Second, I'm glad I could provide a story that you really wanted, hearing things like this makes me very happy. Third... I'm sure we'd all love to see that ;) ;) ;)**

**Seriously though, I appreciate your suggestion for the pairing. I take all suggestions seriously and I will definitely keep yours in mind when I finally decide on the pairing. Just a quick message here for everyone: EVEN THOUGH RYŪKO BLUSHED WHEN DAICHI CALLED HER AND HARU OUT, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL BE ENDGAME. I EXPLICITLY SAID I WASN'T GOING PAIR UP OC/OC!**

_**XxRoByNxX2013: "I really like this please keep up the good job and update soon"**_

**Thanks for the review, I appreciate it. I will try my very best to keep up with updates, although sometimes I will be a bit late due to my life being very busy at the moment (especially with school starting again tomorrow .)**

_**Guest: "Another chapter pleaseeeee"**_

**Here you go my thirsty child.**

**That reminds me, I need something to call all of you other than "my followers". Tyronators? The Tyro-nation? I'll work on it.**


	5. Pleasant Reunion and a Suspicious Woman

_Disclaimer: Did Sakura go back to Sasuke despite all the abuse and attempts on her life she received from him? If so, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs._

_**WARNING: There will be swearing in this chapter and mentions of a lot of blood. From now on, most, if not ALL of the future chapters will have swearing in them, therefore this is the last warning. I will still continue to put warnings for blood and/or gore if they are in any future chapters.**_

"Talking."

_'Thinking.'_

**"Jutsu."**

**Chapter 5: A Pleasant Reunion and a Suspicious Woman**

_[A few days later...]_

The young Uchiha heir walked through the busy streets of Konoha on the way to the hospital. He heard that Kakashi had been in an 'accident' and was being kept there for a few days, however Sasuke needed training. Desperately. After seeing Naruto summon that giant toad AND beat Gaara, the boy decided to seriously up his game, or else he risked losing his status as an 'elite'.

When he reached his sensei's room, he was surprised to see Gai, Kurenai and Asuma already there. Kakashi was still unconscious. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What's going on?"

"Is it so strange for us to visit a fellow Jonin-" before Kurenai could finish her little lie, another shinobi barged into the room.

"Is it true that Uchiha Itachi is here and after Uzumaki Naruto?!" when the man saw the disapproving glares from the other Jonin, he took a step back and wished he could redo the last few seconds of his life. Before any of the adults in the room could react, Sasuke was running down the corridor and out of the hospital.

_'Why has he come back now? And for Naruto, of all people! I have to find that dobe before Itachi kills him, or worse!'_ he thought in a panic as he tore through Konoha, not caring who or what he knocked into.

* * *

_'Ah, so peaceful,' _Ryūko thought and smiled as she walked the streets of her village. This was something she liked to do on a quiet day. No missions, no teammates, no invasions... just a nice, leisurely stroll. After everything that had happened over the past few weeks, today was a welcomed change.

The Uchiha's wonderful day was about to take a turn for the worst.

Just as she turned a corner, she heard screams of shock. Ryūko pulled out her sword and prepared for another attack from Orochimaru, but there wasn't one. Instead, it was her 'little shit' of a brother carelessly running through the markets. Ryūko barely had time to step aside when he shot past her like a bullet from a gun.

"Sasuke?" she asked no one in particular. Not wanting to waste potentially critical time, she made the quick decision to act first and ask questions later, so she chased after him.

* * *

_[Outside a hotel in a nearby town]_

"Well Squirt, say hello to our temporary home!" Jiraiya made a wide gesture to the building in front of him. "We'll be staying here for a few days while you train." Just as he was about to enter the hotel, an attractive dark haired woman with large breasts walked into view and winked at the Sannin. "On second thought, you take the bags up and I'll... uh... ask around for any information on Tsunade. Yeah, that's what I'll do."

"You wait just a minute, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto shouted, but the old man was already walking away with the woman on his arm. "Stupid pervert..." the Jinchuriki muttered.

The Uzumaki entered the room he and Jiraiya were sharing, dragging the bags in after him. He may be a ninja, but he was still very small and the bags were very heavy. Naruto flopped backwards onto the bed and sighed. He had completed the first step to learning the **Rasengan**, but he was completely stuck on the second step and Jiraiya refused to help him. Naruto desperately wanted to beat Sasuke, and he _needed_ the **Rasengan** to be able to counter the other boy's **Chidori**.

The Jinchuriki sat up when he heard a knock at the door. He reached for a kunai in his pouch, knowing it wasn't the Sannin (he was probably still busy with that woman). Slowly, he opened the door to a man that looked a lot like Sasuke, except he had two lines down his face and he seemed to be a good few years older than him.

"Is this brat really the Kyūbi?" asked another man that resembled a shark as he pushed the door open wide. Naruto panicked as not many people were supposed to know about the beast inside him.

"Naruto-kun, come with me," the Uchiha commanded, his Sharingan staring straight into the Uzumaki's eyes. Naruto felt utterly helpless when his feet began to move without his permission.

A short distance away, a door being slammed open could be heard and the quick footsteps of someone running were getting louder and louder until they stopped at the other end of the corridor. Without moving or even turning to look at the disturbance, the older Uchiha said, "It's been quite some time, hasn't it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke, who was panting slightly, scowled as his Sharingan was activated. He bore holes into the back of the man's head with his eyes. "Uchiha Itachi."

"Two Sharingan in one week? And this one has it in _both_ eyes. Didn't you kill all of your clan, Itachi? Who is this twerp?" asked the shark-man.

"He's my little brother," Itachi stated.

"I've waited for this moment for a long time, Itachi. _You're going to pay! _**Chidori**!" Sasuke shouted as he ran at his brother, lightning sparking from his hand and tearing up the wall beside him. Itachi was able to stop the powerful jutsu before it reached his heart by grabbing Sasuke's wrist and twisting it, almost breaking it. Sasuke screamed before he was knocked backwards by Itachi's foot.

"Sasuke!" Naruto summoned the fox's chakra and was getting ready to summon a toad, however the shark-man beat him to it.

"Oh no you don't!" the shark-man swung his sword at Naruto, and although the boy was able to dodge it, he felt a large portion of his chakra disappearing.

Back with Sasuke and Itachi, the younger boy was beginning to stand up when Itachi threw a handful of shuriken at him. Sasuke grabbed a kunai from his pouch and deflected them, however he was forced backwards a few steps, resulting in him tripping over a piece of debris from the wall he tore up. Seeing his chance, Itachi threw three more shuriken towards the boy. The younger Uchiha closed his eyes, knowing there was no way he would be able to deflect them this time, but he felt no pain. Instead of being impaled by the weapons, he was on the ground with no bleeding wounds. In front of him with her sword raised was his older sister, Uchiha Ryūko.

Sasuke glared at her for interfering in another fight that was meant to be his. Without taking her eyes off of the man before her, she said to him: "Don't attack in blind rage."

Dismissing her order, he grit his teeth and jumped up, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrist. He ran past Ryūko, dodging the hand that reached for him and went straight for Itachi. The Akatsuki member sighed and closed his eyes. His little brother never changed.

Itachi side-stepped the punch that was aimed at him and kneed Sasuke in the stomach. He then grabbed the boy by the back of his top and threw him towards Ryūko, who caught him and set him down on the ground. "You should really listen to her, Sasuke."

When Ryūko stood up, Itachi was preparing for another attack that would inevitably fail. Although she was stronger and smarter than Sasuke, Ryūko was still leagues below her older brother. Itachi stood there for a few seconds before realising that Ryūko wasn't going to fight him.

"Aren't you going to kill me? Take revenge? Do something Sasuke will never be able to accomplish? Or do I need to initiate the battle?"

"I'm not stupid, I know that I won't be able to beat you, but if you come near me or Sasuke, I swear that I won't hold back," she gripped her sword tightly in her hands and positioned it in a defensive stance.

The oldest Uchiha noted how sharp and clean the blade was. "I see that you have kept _Danzetsu _in good condition, but can it keep _you_ in good condition?"

In the blink of an eye, Itachi was behind Ryūko with a kunai aiming for the back of her neck, but she had just barely seen him with her Sharingan, so she was able to turn around and block it. Itachi smirked. Despite holding back, he was impressed at the fact that she had seen him.

Ryūko's Sharingan stared directly into his, refusing to back down even though her brother was increasing the pressure on the kunai. The female Uchiha was scared before this even started, but now she was terrified. She was in a stable stance with both of her hands holding her sword, but Itachi was able to press down and slowly push _Danzetsu _ back with only _one_ hand.

Ryūko changed tactics and swiped her sword down, taking Itachi's weapon with it. A regular ninja would have used that opening to attack, but only if they were fighting a normal ninja.

Itachi was far from normal.

Ryūko grabbed Sasuke, and despite his protests, she jumped backwards a few metres. She set the boy down on his feet and got back into a defensive stance.

"What's wrong Ryūko?" Itachi's smirk disappeared and was replaced by a glare. "I thought you wouldn't hold back," he began to walk towards her, one slow step at a time.

Naruto wanted to jump in and help, but every time he moved, the shark-man would swipe at him with his large sword and steal more of his chakra. Eventually he would run out, and what would he be able to do after that? Nothing.

"You seem scared, Ryūko. Are you going to run home to mummy? Oh wait... you _can't_."

That was the last straw for Sasuke. Despite none of the taunts being aimed at him, they all had the same effect on his emotions. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed, but before he could move, Itachi was already in front of him. The older Uchiha knocked Ryūko to the side with a quick strike to her stomach and grabbed Sasuke's neck, lifting him up and slamming him against a wall.

"Hey!" shouted Naruto. He was on the ground with the shark-man's foot on his back, the Akatsuki member obviously fed up of him trying to interfere.

"Don't make me laugh. You can't kill me because you're too weak, you lack hatred. Hate me more, then we'll see if you have the required strength to fight me," Sasuke screamed as Itachi looked into his eyes.

"What's going on?!" asked a confused Naruto. Why was Sasuke screaming? Did Itachi hit him? Why didn't Naruto see anything?

"**Tsukuyomi**..." Ryūko said quietly in horror from her position on the ground, but Naruto was able to catch it. Ryūko growled. She gripped her sword with her right hand and threw it at Itachi's back, but the missing-ninja simply turned and caught the blade between his fingers before throwing it to the side. The male Uchiha dropped Sasuke and walked towards Ryūko. He grabbed the front of her hooded top and picked her up so that her feet were off the ground and she was eye-level with him.

"I told you to become strong and protect him, but it seems like you're too pathetic to be able to do such an easy job. Not only did you fail your parents, but you failed Sasuke as well. I expected better from you," despite her best efforts at resisting him, Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan pierced through her own fully matured Sharingan.

* * *

For a minute, everything was black, but soon enough white and red began to bleed through. Ryūko was looking at the world from an unusual view, and she only realised why when she looked down. Her body was a lot smaller than it should be. Ryūko looked around her, but she couldn't see much over the large walls. The (now very young) girl walked around until she found something hauntingly familiar. It was the Uchiha clan's symbol painted on one of the walls, except it wasn't neat and clean like it always is, it was covered in blood.

_'No, no, no, no...'_ thought Ryūko. _'Not this again. Please...'_

The Uchiha ran towards where she knew the front gate would be, but everything was different here. The walls kept shifting, closing in on her, and at some point she touched one of them by accident. Instead her skin meeting stone, it felt... weird. Warm. Sticky.

Pulling her hand away, she looked at it and screamed. Blood was everywhere. It seeped from the walls until they were completely covered, it soaked the ground and every blade of grass, the clouds were stained with the awful colour. Even the air smelled and tasted like copper.

The blood-soaked walls continued to move and box her in, but that didn't stop her from trying to run away. Eventually she came to a house with an open door, and without thinking, she ran in and slammed it shut. Ryūko pressed her back to the door and tried to catch her breath, but what she saw made her heart stop.

Her mother and father were kneeling on the ground, their heads slumped forward , more blood pouring from their necks. Behind them stood Itachi, but his face was covered by shadows.

_"__**You did this...**__" _a feminine voice filled her ears. _"__**You didn't save us...**__"_

"I... I..."

_"__**You just stood there, frozen...**__" _the voice was now masculine. _"__**An Uchiha shouldn't be ruled by fear...**__" _

"I couldn't... I can't..."

_"__**You're weak**__," _a smaller, higher voice spoke this time. Ryūko looked to the right where there was a open door, and standing there was Sasuke, the same age he was during the massacre. _"__**You're my older sister, I'm supposed to look up to, but how can I? If you couldn't even save our parents, how could you save me?**__"_

This was it, this was the moment she activated her Sharingan.

Time slowed down, and everything became clearer. Just like the last time, she ignored the stinging pain in her eyes and focused on Itachi's arm raising, a kunai gripped in his hand. The first time she did this, she ran towards Sasuke and pushed him out of the way of the projectile, but right now she couldn't move. Something was keeping her tied down and she was forced to relive this differently, her Sharingan forcibly activated so she could remember this forever.

Itachi threw the kunai and unfortunately, his aim was true. It landed right between Sasuke's eyes, going straight through his skull with no resistance whatsoever, and Ryūko witnessed every detail, every blood drop escaping, every pained expression the boy made. It was now permanently in her mind.

"SASUKE!" Ryūko screamed. Tears began to stream down her face as she ceased her struggling against invisible bindings that kept her in one place

"Pitiful," Itachi said as he stepped forward. His Mangekyō Sharingan was still blazing black and red. "Even though I haven't stepped foot inside the village for a long, long time, I still have eyes and ears everywhere. What happened to the Uchiha Ryūko that never gave up? What happened to the Uchiha Ryūko that would rather die than let a comrade be killed? What happened to the Uchiha Ryūko that would never put down her sword until her last dying breath? Tell me, what happened to her?" when he got no response, Itachi backhanded Ryūko across the face.

Ryūko spit out some blood and glared up at Itachi with her Sharingan. "Go fuck yourself."

Itachi's eyes narrowed as the world around them changed. They were no longer in the Uchiha compound, instead they were on top of the Hokage mountain, giving them a clear view of the black, red and white world, and Ryūko was now tied to a wooden cross. The older Uchiha stood in front of her with _Danzetsu _in his hand. "I'm glad to see that you still have some spirit in you after experiencing all that... let's see if I can crush it. Oh, and don't worry," Itachi slowly slid the sword into Ryūko's thigh, making her face scrunch up in pain. "We have plenty of time."

* * *

When Ryūko woke up, she took a mental note of what was around her. Soft fabric surrounded her, a steady beeping coming from somewhere close to her, the smell of anaesthetic, soft voices from some place nearby, but not in the same room she was in... then all of a sudden, excruciating pain, massacre, blood, Itachi, Sasuke..._ Sasuke_... "SASUKE!" once again, the girl screamed her little brother's name, except this time she wasn't frozen in place. Immediately, Ryūko sat up. Not bothering to check the rest of her surroundings, she reached for the sword that wasn't there. Beginning to panic even more now, she tried get off the bed, but a strong hand that was placed on her shoulder snapped her out of whatever illusion she was still under.

The Uchiha looked at the hand first, taking note of the glove that had a metal plate attached to it. Her eyes then travelled up the arm and onto the green Konoha flak jacket before finally meeting the other person's dark eyes. "Welcome back, Ryūko."

That voice was unmistakable. "Hideyoshi-sensei?"

The man himself smiled warmly and took his hand away from her shoulder. He gestured with his eyes to the people next to him. A blonde woman with big breasts, Uzumaki Naruto and an old man with long white hair stood beside him. They could see the many questions in her eyes, but before she could say anything, the blonde woman spoke.

"All right Ryūko, my name is Senju Tsunade and I'd like to ask you some questions," Tsunade had dealt with victims of the **Tsukuyomi ** jutsu before, so she knew exactly what to do with Kakashi, Sasuke and Ryūko. "Could you please tell me your full name, date of birth, your teammates' names and where you are?"

Without hesitation, she answered Tsunade, "Uchiha Ryūko, seventh of November, Nakahara Haru and Hyuuga Daichi, Konoha's hospital. Where's Sasuke?"

"Don't worry about him, he's just recovering right now in a room down the hall, which is what you should be doing. Your sensei and the two visitors outside can stay for an hour, but after that they need to leave so you can get some much needed rest. You can leave the hospital tomorrow with Sasuke but someone must be with the both of you for the rest of the day," Ryūko nodded and the woman, the old man and, after a wave and a grin, Naruto left. That left Hideyoshi and the 'two visitors' with her.

A couple of seconds later, the door to the room was almost taken off its hinges when the boy responsible opened it. "Pumpkin Sparkle!" yelled Haru as he dived towards her. Ryūko didn't dare to admit it, but she really needed the almost rib-breaking hug he gave her. "I was so worried about you. You've been unconscious for over three days!" he pulled back from the hug to inspect her. No external injuries. Good, he could continue hugging her.

"Haru! I told you not to run," Daichi scolded his teammate when he entered the room, but his face instantly softened when he caught sight of the slightly younger boy embracing the girl. "Oh? And here I was under the impression that Ryūko hated you. How clueless of me."

Hideyoshi tried, and failed, to hide his grin when Ryūko shoved Haru off of her and he landed on the floor. The Uchiha then started to yell at him for "barging into her personal bubble" and "not respecting boundaries". Haru, of course, could only sit on the floor pouting while attempting to calm his female teammate down.

_'I couldn't have asked for a better team,'_ the man thought as he and Daichi shared a knowing smirk.

* * *

The next day at around ten o'clock in the morning, the Uchiha siblings were allowed to leave the hospital with an escort each, or "babysitter" as Sasuke had put it. Obviously the two were against the idea of having someone watch over them, as well as let them into their home, however the new Hokage wasn't going to listen to them. They had either had escorts or they didn't leave the hospital for another three days.

The man that was assigned to Sasuke looked like he was in his late twenties to early thirties, with light brown hair and green eyes. The woman that was assigned to Ryūko had blonde hair and dark green eyes and she looked like she was in her very early twenties. They were both wearing the signature Konoha ninja attire.

The 'escorts' would be living in the compound with the Genin until they thought they were fit enough, both mentally and physically, to be by themselves. Apparently they were both skilled with medical jutsu, so if anything happened to either Ryūko or Sasuke, they could handle it.

Ryūko thought the woman might have to follow her everywhere, however she was relieved when she learned that the kunoichi, whose name had already escaped her, didn't have to be in the same room as her all the time, just as long as she was close enough to know if anything bad happened. That rule applied to Sasuke's escort, although the female Uchiha noted that the man wasn't keeping an eye on his 'patient' nearly as much as Ryūko's escort was.

The girl had often tried to lose the older ninja in Konoha, but unfortunately the woman always found her eventually. At one point she even attempted to jump into a river and let it take her somewhere, but the escort caught her just before she touched the water's surface.

On the second day, Ryūko was beginning to get jumpy. More than once she witnessed the light haired woman writing in a small notepad before concealing it in her flak jacket, and when she brought that to Tsunade's attention, she merely dismissed it saying she was probably just making a small report on the Uchiha's health. Not so easily convinced, Ryūko confronted the woman about it. With a quick seduction technique that worked on people of all kinds (which consisted of the woman batting her eyelashes and pouting), the kunoichi managed to slip past the Genin when she demanded answers.

On the third and final day, Ryūko made it her goal to find out what the hell the woman was doing. During the night, Ryūko quietly snuck out of her room and made her way down the hall in her house. Her escort's room (her name still gone from the young girl's mind) was just around the corner, and hopefully said woman was asleep. Thankfully, she was.

Ryūko silently opened the door and smirked when she saw the lump on the bed. As she turned around to close the door, a small cough made her almost jump out of her skin.

"Why hello there Ryūko-chan. What can I do for you?" the use of '-chan' after her name made the Uchiha's skin crawl. She whipped around to see the lump on the bed gone and the woman standing in front of her, wearing an almost see-through nightgown. The kunoichi herself had her arm crossed under her breasts and a smirk was on her face.

Not falling for it this time, Ryūko stood her ground and glared at the older woman. "What the fuck have you been doing?"

The woman frowned, "What do you mean, Ryūko-chan? I've been looking after you, just like Issei has been looking after Sasuke," she placed her hands on Ryūko's shoulders, "You've both been through a lot, so we're here to help with any lasting damage."

Ryūko quickly hit the hands away. "Stop calling me that."

"You mean stop calling you 'Ryūko-chan'? But you have such a pretty name... or would you like me to call you 'Uchiha-sama' instead?" that's when things went horribly, horribly wrong.

When the woman's finger slid along Ryūko's jaw and tilted her head upwards, the girl couldn't move. Her eyes were locked onto the woman's, and for some reason, she was unable to look away. The woman giggled and pulled away, but the Uchiha still couldn't move.

"You teenagers with your raging hormones are so simple to control," seeing Ryūko's eyes begin to narrow, she giggled again. "Ah, but you've been the most fun so far, I've just loved seeing you blush before storming off! You are definitely a tsundere."

_'What the hell is she going on about? 'Control'? Just who is she?'_

"I guess I should explain things," the woman picked Ryūko up like she weighed nothing and set the limp girl down onto the bed. She sat on the side of it and tucked a lock of the girl's black hair behind her ear. "Well, my name is Mutsumi, but of course, you keep forgetting that. In fact, when this is over, you'll forget it again."

_'Mutsumi, meaning beauty, intimate and serpent. How fitting,'_ commented Ryūko in her head.

"I'm going to let you in on a few secrets, Ryūko-chan, because in a few hours you won't remember anything," she finished the sentence off with a quick tap on the girl's nose. "You keep forgetting my name because of my jutsu which lets me seduce a person, therefore allowing me to manipulate them. You see, I'm not very good at ninjutsu or taijutsu, but genjutsu? That I can do, and with a little help from a certain someone, I was able to infiltrate Konoha's ninja force. And I got to the rank of Jonin! Are you impressed, Ryūko-chan?"

_'Screw you.'_

"I'll take your silence as a yes. As to what I've been doing here, apart from taking care of you of course, I've been reporting back to that certain someone about your behaviour, your abilities, the way you think etcetera, etcetera... and they're very pleased with you, Uchiha-sama," the last part was said in an intentionally sexy voice.

_'I swear to Kami, when I get free of this jutsu, I'm gonna kick her ass. In fact, I think I'm starting to get loose.'_

Mutsumi sighed and stroked Ryūko's cheek. "If only you were a couple years older... we could have had some fun before you forgot everything," Ryūko was almost free... "Oh well, it's been great, but I need to leave tomorrow morning and you need to get back to bed," just a little more... "Goodnight, Uchiha-sama," that's it!

Ryūko surprised Mutsumi by sitting up quickly, however before she could land a hit on her, the woman jumped away from the bed while laughing. "I said I was bad at ninjutsu and taijutsu, but I'm fast, and I can throw senbon."

All of a sudden, Mutsumi's arm blurred and three senbon were thrown towards Ryūko who jumped away just in time. She thanked her Sharingan for that. "Oh your eyes are so pretty! I could look at them all day, but I'm afraid I can't. At least, not this day," a few more senbon were thrown but Ryūko ducked and ran at the kunoichi, but her earlier statement proved to be very accurate. The Uchiha's Sharingan was barely able to see the woman move behind her, but it was too late. The sharp sting of the metal objects had already made itself known to Ryūko when Mutsumi stabbed her neck with them.

Before the girl could hit the floor, arms wrapped around her from behind and a sweet voice spoke to her, "Shhh, sleep now. I promise you, the next time we meet, we won't be fighting each other..." that was the last thing Ryūko heard before everything went black.

* * *

When Ryūko woke up that next morning, she immediately felt a throbbing pain in her head. Ignoring the headache as much as she could, Ryūko got ready for the day.

When she arrived in the kitchen she expected to see her and Sasuke's escorts, but they were nowhere to be found.

"They left while you were still sleeping," said Sasuke from his seat at the dining table. He had a mug of what looked to be tea in one hand and a book in the other.

"Already? But it's not even seven o'clock," said Ryūko.

The younger Uchiha looked at her like she had two heads. "Actually, it's noon. You slept in."

_'I... slept in? But that's impossible, my body's been trained to wake up at exactly six every morning. What happened last night?'_

"Hey, Sasuke, by any chance did I do something weird last night? Something I don't usually do?"

"Not that I noticed. You went out shopping for food with your escort, came back, had dinner, read some books and went to bed. That's it," Sasuke went back to drinking his tea.

"Oh, okay," slightly relieved that, despite never even thinking of drinking before, she didn't go out and get drunk. Thankful that day's training for her was cancelled, so she grabbed an apple and was able to head out to something fun for a change when Sasuke's voice stopped her.

"Wait," she turned around to face him. His face showed signs of reluctance, and just as he was about to continue talking, he shook his head. "Never mind."

Instead of leaving like she was originally planning to do, the female Uchiha sat down at the table. "Yes?"

"I said never mind."

"You obviously want to say something to me. What is it?"

He was getting annoyed now, "I said, _never mind_, " the boy got up to put his mug away when Ryūko grabbed his wrist. "Let me go."

Debating with herself about the pros and cons of this, Ryūko was about to do as Sasuke wanted when another thought in her head said 'fuck it'.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" she asked in a caring tone. Not used to hearing that from her, Sasuke stopped struggling and sighed before sitting back down.

"Ryūko... are you having nightmares?"

"About?"

"About... Itachi," just saying the man's name made the boy's anger flare.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't had _any_ nightmares. In fact, she barely thought about being under that horrible jutsu. Strange.

"I can't say I have."

"I see... then it doesn't matter, you can't help me." This time, Ryūko let him go. When Sasuke left the house, Ryūko had no idea what to do. Should she go after him? If she did, would that help things or just make everything worse? The last time she followed him, she got a lovely **Tsukuyomi** as a reward. Although if she didn't go, things could have been much worse for the boy. She decided to leave it for a while.

* * *

The first place Sasuke went to let out some steam was Team 7's training ground. He spent the first few hours punching and kicking one of the posts and thinking about recent events. After the Uchiha was healed by the female Sannin, he demanded that Naruto fight him. Sasuke thought for sure that he would win, however when his **Chidori** was about to connect with Naruto's new jutsu, Kakashi stopped them.

Kakashi.

Although he respected the man's strength, he hated him. He hated his hair, his mask, the way he was always late and the way the Jonin preached on and on about teamwork and friendships, but most of all, he hated the fact that he had a Sharingan. No one outside of the Uchiha clan should be have the privilege of wielding one of the Three Great **Dōjutsu**. In fact, if it wasn't for the Sharingan's great power, Kakashi wouldn't be the man he was today, he would just a weak wannabe ninja. Like Sakura.

Oh how Sasuke hated the girl. She was a clingy, useless, naive little girl that had no idea what being a ninja is actually like. She should have just stayed at home and learned how to be a good wife for her future husband, but she would probably have screwed that up as well.

Naruto. Don't even get him started on Naruto. The boy was loud, idiotic and cowardly, but he was strong, and that was why Sasuke wanted to crush him so badly. The Uzumaki never had parents so he has never felt the pain of losing them, yet he pretends to understand Sasuke.

Finally, Ryūko. After the massacre, she all but disowned him as her brother. A big sister is supposed to kiss your knee better when you fall and scrape it, read bedtime stories so you sleep better, hold you when you've had a nightmare, tell you everything will be okay...

Sasuke slammed his fist into the post and shut his eyes to stop the tears from flowing.

_'You left me when I needed you most,'_ he fell to his knees. _'First Itachi, and then you.'_

"Aw, look at the little baby. Think he needs his mummy?" someone said from behind him. Sasuke whipped around to see four ninja standing in front of him, all wearing the same brown uniform with a large purple rope tied around their waists. "Another weakling. Orochimaru really needs to think before picking students."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Sound Four, East Gate. Kidōmaru," said the six-armed man.

"South Gate. Jirōbō," the large man said.

"West Gate. Sakon," said the strange looking one.

"North Gate. Tayuya," said the only female.

With the introductions over with, the four attacked Sasuke. Kidōmaru went for a punch, but Sasuke blocked it and was pushed back slightly. Sasuke then used the man to lift himself up and over him, kicking Sakon, who was trying to go for an opening, into one of the wooden posts. When Jirōbō tried to hit him, the Uchiha hooked his arm into the six-armed man's purple rope, pulling him back while at the same time, grabbing the large man's arm. He flung Jirōbō into Kidōmaru and they both were knocked into Sakon and Tayuya. When Sasuke looked at their landing spot, all he saw were four logs.

The boy turned around and saw the four standing not too far away from him, uninjured. Sakon waved his finger at Sasuke, "Well? Are you coming or not?"

Both he and the Genin lunged at each other and when the Sound ninja tried to kick him, Sasuke pulled out some wire from his pouch and wrapped it around Sakon's foot. He then tied the other end of the wire to one of the wooden posts, leaving Sakon unable to move his foot. The man blocked Sasuke's oncoming kick with one arm while grabbing it with the other. When the boy tried to punch him, he grabbed his fist with his free hand. Seeing an opening, Sasuke aimed his other fist at the man's face, but with a shout from him, the Uchiha was knocked back by an unseen force.

Another shout, and Sasuke was knocked into a tree. Sensing something behind him, Sasuke leapt into the air. Kidōmaru appeared in the place he used to be and spit some kind of web at him, trapping his arms together. The Sound ninja threw Sasuke into the air, right in the path of Jirōbō. The large man charged into the Genin, sending him back towards Sakon. Said man reached out to palm strike Sasuke, but the boy placed his hands on the ground in front of him and used his chakra to grip onto the dirt. He then pulled his legs towards his torso, dodging Sakon's strike and kicking upwards into the man's stomach.

The Uchiha appeared above him. Sasuke did an overhead kick into Sakon's chest and followed up with two quick punches. Fed up with the enemy, Sasuke finished with another kick. "**Shishi Rendan!**"

* * *

_[Meanwhile]_

It was noon when Sasuke left to do Kami knows what, and now it was seven o'clock at night. What in the name of Ryūko's ancestors was the boy doing? Did he get lost on the way back?

_'Don't be stupid Ryūko, Sasuke's smart enough to not let himself get lost.'_

As the minutes went by, Ryūko became increasingly worried. Having had enough just sitting there waiting, the girl left the Uchiha compound in search for her reckless little brother, but where could she start looking?

_'Knowing him, he'll probably be blasting fireballs at things,'_ well then, to the training ground it is.

* * *

The strange man, completely unfazed by Sasuke's previous attacks, stood with the boy's ankle in his hand, making him hang upside down. "Look at you, you're so pathetic. If you stay in this village, you'll turn out to be an average ninja at best, never realising your true strength. You can stay here pretending to be a ninja with your friends if you want, but if you do, your abilities will be wasted. However, if you come with us, Orochimaru-sama will bring out your full potential," at the mention of the Sannin's name, Sasuke's Curse Mark flared. Sakon threw him to the side. "If you make us wait any longer, I'm gonna wring your neck!"

The Cursed Mark began to spread across Sasuke's arm and when he looked up at the ninja, his Sharingan activated. "Just try it!" he shouted.

Before the four could react, shuriken were thrown towards them, just barely missing them when they dodged. Uchiha Ryūko landed in front of Sasuke, _Danzetsu_ drawn and pointed towards the Sound Four, "Like he said, _just try it_."

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was that chapter. A lot of you probably think I'm going too fast, and I am, but that's only because I want to get part one over with and get into part two which will feature a lot of new plot points and character development.**

**As for the new character, Mutsumi, she won't be appearing again for quite some time, but I promise you, she has a big role to play in Ryūko's future, but Issei (Sasuke's escort) won't be appearing again because he was a legitimate Konoha ninja that was meant to be looking after Sasuke.**

**Another thing: Sasuke's OOCness. I know I kind of destroyed the whole emo thing he had going on by making him breakdown, but I could imagine him being very sad over the 'loss' of Ryūko. I say 'loss' because he doesn't feel like she's his big sister anymore.**

**Translation(s):**

**'Danzetsu' is translated to 'Severance' in English which means to end a connection/relationship or division by cutting or slicing. Let's see if you can guess why I called Ryūko's sword Danzetsu ;)**

**Review responses:**

_**Guest (first review): "Oh boy, if there aren't enough Sasuke sister self-inserts out there. go die, your idea is bad and you should feel bad. smh so hard right now.**_** "**

_**(Second review): "Ok, so maybe I didn't have to be that rude but, these stories are everywhere on the internet."**_

**All right Bitch-Tits, don't get your panties in a twist. First of all, if these stories are 'everywhere', how come I haven't seen a single one? And if they actually are, who the fuck cares? There are plenty of Fem!Naruto stories and yet people love them. Secondly, Do you know the difference between an OC and a Self-Insert? An OC is an Own/Original Character, therefore they are completely made up. A Self-Insert is when an author puts their self into the story. I am nothing like Ryūko, therefore she is an OC. Thirdly, telling someone to kill them self is a horrible thing to do and you should feel awful about it and sending another review saying that you shouldn't have been THAT rude just makes you seem like a real prick. Chill out.**

_**Amyb11: "I like her with Shikamaru..simply because i love his character."**_

**I love his character as well and I will take your suggestion to heart.**

_**xXxWhiteWolf14xXx: "Great chapter! I can't wait to see more of how Ryūko feels about Sasuke and Itachi and how she reacts to seeing her older brother after so long. I would love to see more Ino/Ryūko interaction as well. Keep up the great work!"**_

**Omg I'm gonna scream you're so nice. I hope this Uchiha sibling reunion is okay. I didn't let Ryūko show too much emotion simply because I can't see her being a very emotional person, especially when she has someone to protect, but on the inside she was screaming in rage and pain. Believe me. Never fear, Itachi will not disappear! He will most definitely come back later on, and when he does... **_**HE'S IN FOR SOME PAAAAAAAIN!**_

**But seriously though, Ryūko will not be happy. Lastly, I have two different responses to "I would love to see more Ino/Ryūko interaction":**

**First response (if they DON'T end up together): I am so sorry please forgive me my sweet follower I love you.**

**Second response (if they DO end up together): *Puts on shades* OOHHHHH YEAH BABY THEY'RE GONNA BE LIKE RABBITS AND- *Ino slaps me over the head***

**...**

**Preview for a future chapter:**

**The blood dripped from the boy's mouth, landing on the cold, stone floor.**

_**Drip... drip... drip...**_

**The sword that was lodged in his chest was beginning to become soaked with the crimson liquid. Shaky hands cupped the Genin's face, regret filling the eyes of the one responsible.**

**"R... Ryūko... save them," those were last words he whispered before his eyes lost all traces of life.**


	6. Duty or Family?

_Disclaimer: Did every Genin team consist of two boys and one girl, despite the male population being 49% and the female population being 51% (A.K.A there should have been many more kunoichi)? If so, then I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs._

_'Thinking.'_

"Talking."

"**Jutsu**."

"_**Cursed Mark.**_"

**Chapter 6: Duty or Family?**

Ryūko braced herself for an all-out attack from the Sound Four, but they just stood still, smirking. "I take it you're Uchiha Ryūko? Thanks for saving us the trouble of hunting you down ourselves."

The Uchiha looked at the six-armed man like he had just kicked a puppy. "What do you mean? And what do you want with Sasuke?"

"Oh, it's not just him, Orochimaru-sama wants you too."

"They're mine!" yelled Sasuke as he jumped up from his place on the ground, however before he could take a step forward, Ryūko grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm so sick of you running head first into danger. Do you have a death wish?!" when she got no response, the girl dropped him. "Just stay down."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No! I don't care if you stay or go, but I'm fighting them!" he got up again, Curse Mark still spreading.

Ryūko sighed and shook her head, "Fine, but don't blame me when you get smacked against the ground."

When the siblings turn back to the look at their enemies, they both took an involuntary step back in shock. All over the right side of Sakon's face were black marks. "Did you really think you were Orochimaru-sama's only pets? Get over yourself. Before I forget, I should probably give you a bit of advice: don't activate the mark so recklessly, although it doesn't seem like you've got a proper hold of it yet. If you let it spread uncontrollably, it'll eat away at you like acid until there's nothing of your former self left."

"In exchange for the power, the mark ties you to Orochimaru-sama," explained the female. "All feelings of freedom will be lost to you. To gain one thing, you must willingly, or unwillingly, leave something behind. What is your purpose in this life? To stay in this sorry excuse for a village. hiding with your friends? Surely you haven't forgotten about Itachi."

"Shut up and leave that bastard out of this!"

Tayuya ignored Ryūko and continued speaking to Sasuke, "Don't lose sight of your goal. If you stay here, you'll never become strong enough. Sever your ties to this pathetic place and there will be no limit to the power you will obtain. We will wait a mile outside of Konoha's east gate until midnight. If you're not there, we leave without you," when the female finished speaking, the four jumped into the air and disappeared in a flurry of leaves. Only then did the kunoichi relax.

"Are you okay?" she asked her brother.

"I'm fine," as began to walk away, the Curse Mark returned to its dormant state.

"Obviously you're not," Ryūko caught up with him and walked beside him. "What are you going to do?"

"Huh?"

"Are you going to go with them?"

"Would you try to stop me if I did?"

"..."

"Well?"

_'Would I stop him? _Could_ I stop him? He can get really stubborn when his mind is set on something, and if I don't let him follow his own path, he could grow to hate me even more. But if I let him go, who knows how far Orochimaru will push him?'_

"No, I won't stop you," she finally said. They could see the Uchiha compound just down the street they were walking through. Sasuke nodded and looked at the ground.

"Do you want to go with them?" he asked.

"Not particularly."

"_Will_ you go with them?"

"If you do, then yes."

"Why?"

"That's a very good question. Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why do all Uchihas have black hair and black eyes? Why are-" she was stopped mid-sentence when Sasuke roughly grabbed her arm and made her face him. They were standing just outside the compound.

"I'm being serious, Ryūko. Why?"

"You're my brother."

"Hn, you never acted like it."

"Oh really? Then who was I for seven years? A friend?"

"As soon as Itachi left, you acted like I never even existed! You pushed me away, ignored me, left me all alone! And what hurt the most what that I still cared about you! Do you know how worried I get when you disappear for 'training'? You're gone for days without telling me where you are. What if something happened to you?"

"Sasuke, I-"

"No, shut up! Itachi tore this family apart, and I'm going to kill him, even if it means getting power from a madman!" Sasuke stormed into their house and up the stairs, planning on packing his things as soon as he got into his room. Ryūko was silent for a while, just staring at the Uchiha symbol that was painted on one of the walls. The girl then followed after her brother but instead of going to talk to him, she went into her room.

She didn't get changed and go into bed like she would usually do. This time, she opened her wardrobe and grabbed one of the backpacks from the upper-shelf and began to fill it with clothes, weapons, scrolls and books (of course, to fit this all in, she sealed most of it into scrolls). When she was done she picked up her team photo that was next to her bed.

_'I'm sorry, but Sasuke comes first. He always has, and he always will.'_

She put the picture down flat so that the photo inside the frame was no longer visible. She picked up the bag and placed it on her back, adjusting it so that she could still reach for _Danzetsu_. She waited for Sasuke at the bottom of the stairs, however it didn't take long for him to appear. When he saw her waiting for him instead of sleeping in her own room, his eyes momentarily widened before glaring at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Standing, waiting for you to get your lazy ass in gear. Come on, we've only got an hour and the east gate is a mile away."

"We've got plenty of time, just run across the buildings."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure the ANBU will ignore the last two members of a dying clan running across the village with backpacks full of stuff."

"Good point."

The plan was for them to use as many back-alleys and narrow streets as possible, keeping their Sharingan activated so they could see any incoming chakra signatures. The two eventually made it to a path that would lead straight to the gate, but before they could go any further, a pink head of hair caught their attention.

"Shit," Sasuke swore under his breath. "Sakura..."

"How the hell did she know you would be here?"

"I have no idea."

"This is the fastest way to the gate, any other path and the Sound ninja will leave with without us. Get rid of her!" Ryūko ordered as she jumped into a nearby tree, ready to interfere if the Haruno tried anything. When Ryūko saw the tear fall from Sakura's eye, she knew the pinkette wouldn't pull a weapon on Sasuke. The older girl sighed and decided to leapt through the trees until she was out of Sakura's eyesight, then she jumped back down onto the path.

_'Just in case Sasuke takes too long, I'll go see if I can stall the Sound ninja. I just hope he lets the kid down nicely.'_

Ryūko continued to walk down the path, however when she could just see the large gate in the distance, she heard laughing. Immediately, she dived into a nearby bush, peeking her head over the small stone wall separating the plants and the path. What she saw made her heart sink. Team 10 were walking down the same path, right towards Sasuke and Sakura! If the team saw them, Ryūko was sure they would get into a fight. It doesn't matter if Sasuke was capable of handling them or not, because if even one of them used a jutsu, the ANBU would be over here faster than a rabbit chasing after carrot!

Ryūko panicked when they got closer. Never mind finding her brother and his teammate, what if they found her? Seeing her hiding from them would make the trio highly suspicious. Groaning at her only option, the girl quietly stepped out from the bush as soon as Team 10 walked past her hiding spot. She really, really didn't want to do this, but what choice did she have? Deciding to go for the two strongest members of the group (Shikamaru and Choji), Ryūko pulled out some wire from her pouch and tied two shuriken to the ends. Next, she threw them at either side of the group, and due to the two boys standing at the edges, they were the first to get wire wrapped around their torso.

Ino, having slightly more time to react, jumped into the air and into a tree, kunai drawn and looking for the enemy. When she saw Ryūko tying her teammates together back-to-back, she almost dropped her weapons.

The female Uchiha didn't bother going after the younger girl until she knew the two boys were secure. And just to be safe, she used the end of her sword to knock them out. Knowing exactly what Ino's jutsu did, the girl walked around in random patterns so that the jutsu wouldn't hit her.

"Don't make me come after you, Ino-san! Just step down from the trees and I won't hurt you," of course, Ryūko could easily use her Sharingan to find the kunoichi, but she'd rather not scare the blonde.

_'What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?! She just attacked Choji and Shikamaru! Yeah, they're annoying, but what did they do to make her angry? There's no way I can fight her by myself, but if I run, she'll find me for sure! Besides, she'll probably see me with her Sharingan any second now! Think Ino, think!'_

"Ino-san!" Ryūko shouted. She put her sword away, hoping that would reassure the Yamanaka slightly that she wasn't going to hurt her. "Please, come out! I can explain everything!"

_'What would Shikamaru do? ... Nothing. He would do nothing... that lazy bastard,'_ seeing that she had no other option, Ino climbed down from the tree, however when her feet touched the ground, she stared at the black haired female, never taking her eyes off of her in case she tried anything.

"Fine, explain yourself. Why did you attack us?"

"Did Sakura tell you about what happened in the Chuunin Exams?"

"Yeah, she told me about Sasuke getting bitten. What of it?"

"I assume you've heard of Orochimaru, so I'll skip that bit. He left a mark on both Sasuke and I, and as long as we have it, he can influence us and eventually control us, leaving nothing left of our old selves. Sasuke and I are going to him so that he we won't change us! Instead, he'll give us power, and eventually I can kill him."

"You're not lying, are you?"

"No, it's all the truth," and it was, Ryūko just 'forgot' to tell her about the whole 'betraying the village for revenge'.

"But you'll become missing-ninjas... and I can't let that happen... I can't let you both throw your lives away!"

"Why would you care? You said what you truly felt about Sasuke in the Chuunin Exams."

"That's true, but in a way, he's still my comrade. And you, even though I barely know you, I want to be your friend! Haru and Daichi told me a lot about you, and even after everything that's happened, you're still so kind, loving, protective and strong!"

_'Those idiots...'_ thought Ryūko.

"You seem to be under the wrong impression. I'm not kind, nor loving, and I'm certainly not strong. Protective? Yes, but only of Sasuke because he's all I have left. And because of that, I mustn't let you stop us," she pulled out her sword. "I hope you're ready to fight."

Ino smirked, "I don't need to fight, " that's when she pulled out a weapon from her pouch, a kunai with an exploding tag on it. The blonde threw it as high into the air as she could, and looked back at Ryūko. "I didn't think you'd listen to reason. Every ninja that saw that explosion will be here in a matter of seconds. You're not leaving."

Instead of the Uchiha cursing and running like she expected her to, she merely smiled. "Oh Ino-san... if only you'd have paid more attention," as she said that, the same kunai that should have been sent in another direction due to the blast, dropped down beside Ino, unharmed.

"W-what? That's... impossible," when she looked up, her face paled. The famous Sharingan was staring directly into her.

"As soon as you looked at me after you climbed down from the tree, I put you into a genjutsu that would fool you into thinking you had picked up your exploding tag in your pouch, when in reality you just picked up the kunai by itself. It was simple, but effective. I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I can't let you stop me," Ryūko ran forward and tried to swipe at the younger kunoichi with _Danzetsu_, but the girl jumped to the side. Ryūko may have been fast, but the Yamanaka was flexible and was therefore able to easily dodge the deadly blade.

"What happened to not wanting to hurt me?!"

"I told you that I wasn't kind! Especially to those that get in the way of my revenge!"

"Revenge? That's what this is about? I knew it! You weren't going to Orochimaru to kill him, you were going so he would give you the strength to kill Uchiha Itachi!" she shouted to Ryūko as she dodged another strike. When she saw an opportunity, Ino did a forward-roll on the ground towards her fallen weapon, and when she got up, she held the kunai in a defensive stance.

"Don't do this, Ino-san."

"No! I have to at least try to stop you! If I don't, what kind of ninja am I?"

"A smart one."

"I'd be a _cowardly_ one. Just tell me something. What happened to the girl that jumped in front of my team, ready to take on the enemy Sound ninja even though it wasn't her fight? What happened to her?"

"I only did it because they attacked my team-"

"No, you could have run and left us to our fate, but you didn't! You took them on, despite not knowing us. You put yourself at risk for strangers."

"I did it because I wanted a scroll. That's it. There's nothing more to me, Ino-san, why don't you see that? I'm an Uchiha, we don't care about anything other power."

"Maybe you break that stereotype, just like I break the Yamanaka stereotype. People from my family are supposed to be calm and quiet, especially when we're facing the enemy, but me? I'm loud, brash, arrogant and foolish," Ino lowered her kunai. "So please, put away your sword and we can forget about this and if anyone asks, it was a training exercise."

Ryūko hesitated, but seeing the sincerity in the girl's eyes, she sheathed _Danzetsu_. "All right... but don't make me regret this."

"I won't," the blonde smiled. "Now, let's go get Shikamaru and Choji."

When Ino reached the boys, Shikamaru was just beginning to wake up. "Why does it feel like my mother just yelled at me for three hours straight?"

"Don't worry about it," said Ino as she began to untie them.

Shikamaru looked up at Ino with a raised eyebrow, however something shiny behind the girl caught his attention. He only realised it was a sword when it was too late. "Ino! Look out!"

Said girl gasped and turned around, eyes wide in horror. Instead of a sharp blade piercing her body, a hand grabbed the front of her top and pulled her to her feet. Her back was then pressed against Ryūko's front, _Danzetsu_ held up to her throat.

"What the-?"

"All of that shouting must have attracted some kind of attention, and with your friend waking up so soon, there was no doubt in my mind that he would have called for help. So now, I'm going to use you as a hostage. I didn't want it to come to this, but I've got no choice. If you move anything other than your legs, this sword is going to cut your throat open. We'll see how loud you are after that," Ryūko said to the terrified girl.

"You bitch! Let her go!" Shikamaru struggled against the still tightly tied wires.

"No can do, Pineapple," just then, Sasuke walked into view, a permanent glare on his face. When he saw the four people, he was shocked. "Don't worry about this, Sasuke. We're leaving," she looked back at the only conscious male member of Team 10. "If any ninja come after us, I'm going to blame you. I'll let you guess Ino-san's fate if that happens."

She gestured to Sasuke to walk in front, and when he did, she turned herself and Ino around and began to follow him. After a while of walking outside the village, Ino began to talk seeing as Sasuke was scouting ahead and wouldn't hear them.

"Why are you still doing this?" asked Ino.

"I told you why."

"But we were having a moment."

Ryūko chuckled, "That's what you call a moment? I feel sorry for the guy that marries you."

Thinking of some kind of distraction, Ino smirked and ran a finger along the arm that was keeping her pinned to the Uchiha, "Oh? Who said I'd marry a guy?"

"Wait, wha-?" Ryūko pulling back slightly was the only opening the blonde needed. She grabbed the arm holding the sword to her throat and pushed it away from her with all her strength. When it was a safe distance from her neck, she leaned forward slightly and roughly pulled her head back, head-butting the taller girl's chin. Ryūko cried out and clutched her chin, stepping back and glaring at the girl. She activated her Sharingan and tried to put the girl into another genjutsu, but Ino learned from last time. The Yamanaka only looked at Ryūko's body, not her face. Ryūko growled, "I'd watch yourself, Ino-san. We're too far from the village for you to run, and Sasuke's close enough to hear fighting."

_'Oh shit, she's right. I'm wedged between Ryūko and Sasuke. I could really use Shikamaru and Choji's help right about now.'_

"Well? What do you plan on doing?" before the Yamanaka could answer, the two heard shouting from not too far away.

"I can imagine someone found out that I was missing, realised you and all your stuff was gone and put two and two together. Shikamaru probably also had a say in it."

Ryūko cursed and gripped her sword tighter, preparing herself to fight her way through Ino so that she and Sasuke could run, however the blonde stepped aside. "Huh?"

"As soon as we passed Konoha's entrance gate, I became useless as a hostage. You could have killed me, but you didn't. I'm repaying you for that by letting you go."

"But I thought you didn't want me to become a missing-ninja."

Once again that night, Ino smiled at Ryūko, "I believe that you'll do the right thing. Now go, before they find you."

"Ino-san, I-"

"Go! Quickly!" when Ino shouted, Ryūko nodded and ran in the same direction Sasuke went, however before she passed the other kunoichi she stopped.

"Here," she said as she offered her headband to the Yamanaka.

"But-"

"I know that you believe I'll come back, and I appreciate that, but just in case something happens... keep this safe for me?" Ryūko didn't let the blonde reply, instead, she continued to run.

_'I hope I wasn't wrong about you, Ryūko,' _thought Ino as she clutched the dark haired girl's headband close to her chest.

* * *

_[Around an hour later]_

"What do you mean 'Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Ryūko left the village'?" Tsunade asked, no, demanded as she slammed her fist onto the table, almost knocking over a bottle of sake.

"When Yamanaka Inoichi noticed that his daughter hadn't returned home after her mission, he went out looking for her. First, he came across Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji, who told him that Uchiha Ryūko had taken his daughter hostage. Then, he found an unconscious Haruno Sakura who told him that Uchiha Sasuke knocked her out when she tried to stop him from leaving the village," said a Jonin that had been part of the search group for the Yamanaka heiress.

Tsunade groaned and reached for the sake, however Shizune pulled it away from her. She just started her position as Hokage, and already two clan heirs have gone rogue? She was starting to regret this. "Fine, you're dismissed. The rest of you can leave except Shikamaru." Choji, Ino, the Jonin and Sakura left the office having finished retelling their part of the story.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" asked Shikamaru.

"As a Chuunin, I need you to gather a group of ninja and head out to intercept Ryūko, Sasuke and whoever else is with them, _before_ they cross the Land of Fire's border. After that, and we will be unable to help them."

"I would like to request as many Chuunin and Jonin ranked ninja we can spare, Hokage-sama."

"None."

"What?"

"We have no spare Chuunin or Jonin, only Genin."

"But what about the guy that just left? Isn't he a Jonin?"

"Yes, but he has business he needs to get back to," Tsunade stood up and went to stand by one of the windows in her office. "You have until dawn to rest, pick your team and leave."

"Dawn? Shouldn't I leave now?"

"No. Orochimaru's students must do something to Ryūko and Sasuke's marks before they head back to one of his bases, so you have a few hours, believe me. I suggest you take advantage of that time and prepare yourself."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru was already going through a list of people he would take in his head. Neji was a must, as was Haru because they had slighter more experience than everyone else available. He would also have liked to take Daichi, Shino and Hinata but they were on a mission, and Lee was still injured. Sakura and Ino weren't really suited for this type of mission, so that left Choji, Kiba, and Naruto.

To be safe, he would take all of them.

* * *

_[Dawn, outside the village gate]_

Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Choji, Kiba and Haru all stood in a circle with Shikamaru drawing a plan in the dirt with a stick. "We'll go with a single-file strike formation, and as we all know the most important position is the one in front, and that will be Kiba. With all the walks you and Akamaru go on, you're the most familiar with the terrain and with that sensitive nose of yours, you'll be able to track Sasuke's scent while sniffing out any traps the enemy may have set.

"Second in line will be yours truly, the platoon leader. From that position, I'll be able to direct everyone behind me using hand-signals, and because I'm so close to Kiba, I'll be in a position to react to any situation.

"In the middle will be Naruto and just behind him will be Haru. With Haru's quick moves and Naruto's **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**, you'll both be able to react to any attack coming at us, front, back and sides.

"Fifth in line will be Choji. Choji, you may not have any speed, but your striking power is the greatest of the platoon members. Kiba, myself, Naruto and Haru will launch a surprise attack and you can swoop in and finish them off. You're the second wave of our assault.

"Lastly, Neji. You're position is most difficult. I want you to use your Byakugan to constantly scan ahead for any weaknesses in our ranks. Have all of you got that?" when no one spoke up, the Nara continued to speak. "All right, I have something important to say. For as long as I can remember, Sasuke and I haven't exactly been best friends, in fact I don't really like him at all, and I don't even know Ryūko that well. All the same, they're ninja that belong to Konohagakure, they're comrades, and I'll put my life on the line to help them. That's the way of our village.

"I know I usually seem like a pretty lazy guy, but not today... because now I'm responsible for your lives too."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see Shikamaru act like a Chuunin. Very impressive, dude!" praised Kiba as he pat Shikamaru on the back.

"All right, let's move out!" ordered Shikamaru.

"Wait!" Sakura's voice stopped them. The group turned around to see the girl standing there, panting from running all the way to the edge of the village.

"Are you all right, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.

It was obvious the girl had been crying due to the tear stains on her cheeks. "Naruto... please, bring Sasuke-kun back to me..." her voice trembled as she fought back more tears. "I tried to stop him, I did... but I wasn't strong enough. At this point, there's only one person who can stop him. Only one who can save him. Naruto, it's all up to you..."

Naruto grinned and said, "Don't worry Sakura-chan, I'll bring Sasuke back, even if I have to drag him back here! And if Ryūko tries to stop me, I'll drag her back as well! That's a promise, dattebayo!"

_'Naruto... you... you're always so kind to me. Why? What have I done to deserve your kindness? All I've done is yell at you... hit you... call you names... and yet, you keep trying to cheer me up,'_ Sakura smiled through her tears.

"Thank you so much!" she cried a she pulled the blond boy into a hug. Naruto nearly fainted from happiness.

"Okay you two, enough flirting, we have a mission to complete," Haru teased. The two immediately broke apart, Sakura trying to hide her blush and Naruto not even bothering to cover his lobster red face. "Let's go!"

"See ya, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved as the group began to walk away, leaving Sakura much happier than she was a minute ago.

* * *

_[Some time later]_

The rescue group had to leave many people behind, including Choji, Neji, Kiba and Shikamaru, therefore only Haru and Naruto remained, although it seemed like someone else was going to be left behind again. The two coffins that held Ryūko and Sasuke, now leaking black chakra and almost ready to burst, were in front of them, however the new enemy, Kimimaro, wouldn't let the two near them. Every time they tried, he would do some weird bone jutsu and bat them away. This guy was just too much.

Haru was about to use the jutsu that Hideyoshi-sensei told him to never use unless ordered otherwise, when the seals on the coffins tore in half. More chakra began to leak out and the coffins began to shake.

"Pumpkin Sparkle?" Haru asked no one in particular. Kimimaro smirked when the coffins exploded, sending bits of wood everywhere. Naruto and Haru tried to see into the purple smoke that surrounded the area where the coffins were, but they couldn't see anything. When it finally cleared, they could see the two Uchiha siblings standing with their backs to them.

Naruto was the first to react. "Hey, Sasuke! What are you doing hanging about with these losers? Come on, let's go home!" when he got no response, Haru tried.

"Ryūko! Hey! Can you hear me? Come back, Hideyoshi-sensei and Daichi miss you!" Ryūko said nothing.

The only sound that came from them was Sasuke's menacing laugh. Ryūko clenched and unclenched her hands, not sure about the new, evil power she felt coursing through her body. Sasuke, on the other hand, was thrilled. He now had the power to finally kill Itachi.

Naruto's concern for Sasuke was growing by the second. "Hey, have you gone deaf or something? Answer me!"

"Pumpkin Sparkle! Look at me! What's happened to you?" asked Haru. The two Konoha Genin were about to move forward when Sasuke began to jump into the trees, Ryūko following closely behind. Naruto was about to run after them when Kimimaro appeared behind him, bone sword drawn and aimed at the boy's throat. Just as it was about hit Naruto, Haru intercepted with his kamas. "Naruto, go! I'll hold him off!" shouted Haru and he pushed the man away.

"But, Ryūko-"

"Go!" Haru charged forward and with a battle-cry his weapons clashed against Kimimaro's bone sword again. With a new surge of determination, Naruto nodded and ran at full in speed in Sasuke's direction.

"You're going to regret that, Leaf ninja," said Kimimaro. He charged at Haru again, swiping a him with his bone sword, not giving him space to breath. The blond boy blocked when he could, but sometimes he could only dodge. This went on for a while until the Nakahara began to get tired. Running all the way here took a toll on his body, especially since he had a lot of his chakra siphoned by that big guy.

When Haru made the mistake of leaving himself open at the side, he thought he was a goner. The bone sword was getting closer, closer, closer...

_BOOM!_

The smoke from the exploding tag covered the area around the fighting duo who had now been separated due to the blast. "Did anyone call for backup?"

Haru knew who that voiced belonged to. When the smoke cleared, he saw the familiar purple and pink figures. "Cherry! Angel!"

"There's more of you?" asked Kimimaro in disgust.

"Yup, and more are coming when they're available, which should be soon," said Ino. She had a confident smile on her face and a kunai in her hand.

"No matter, you will not get past me," the Sound ninja closed his eyes and focused. Soon enough, the Cursed Mark on his chest began to glow red and spread over his body. More bones sprouted from his chest, like his ribcage had been pulled apart until the ribs faced outwards.

The two kunoichi stood beside Haru, ready to back him up, when the boy got an idea. "I'm going to need you two to get in a tree nearby."

"What? Why?" asked Sakura. She didn't want to put to the side again, especially since she just got here.

"I'm going to use a jutsu that will force him to get out in the open, and he'll also be distracted. I need you two to try and hit him with any weapons you have so I can go in for the kill."

"Are you sure? He's pretty tough," said Ino.

"Completely," he gave them shining smile before the two did as he asked.

"Leaving yourself behind so they can get away? How sweet," Kimimaro said sarcastically. Haru just grinned and went through hand signs.

"**Suiton: Bakusui Shouha**!" Water came pouring out of Haru's mouth at a rapid pace, filling up the area around them in a matter of seconds. A wave rose up with Haru standing on top of it, his body reeking confidence in himself. Kimimaro was forced to use chakra and stand on the water, but that was becoming increasingly difficult when the water wouldn't stop moving.

Then the wave began to charge forward like an angry bull. When the wave passed, Ino and Sakura saw their opportunity. They threw shuriken and kunai at the dazed Sound ninja, forcing him backwards and into Haru's waiting jutsu, "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" **a dragon rose up from the water and with a great roar, it crashed into Kimimaro.

As the water disappeared, Ino and Sakura hopped down from their place in the tree, and as they were about to congratulate Haru, they heard a cracking sound. A few metres away from the exhausted boy, the ground was cracking up and out came the Sound ninja, completely unharmed. "Well, that was certainly a surprise, a shame it didn't work."

"That's... impossible. My jutsu hit you!"

"Actually, it _almost_ hit me," his Cursed Mark spread across his whole body, but it didn't stop there. The marks turned into a lava red again, _completely_ covering his skin until you couldn't see it's real colour. Then, they settled into a dull purple. His nails turned into claws, a tail grew from his lower back, his hair turned dark grey and larger bones erupted from his back. "_**This is the kind of power Orochimaru-sama has graciously given your friends**_."

_'Sasuke-kun... can turn into _that_ thing?' _thought Sakura in complete horror.

* * *

_[Meanwhile]_

At last, Naruto found them. Standing on top of the Senju Hashirama statue's head, Naruto shouted Sasuke's name, who was standing on the Uchiha Madara statue's head, Ryūko next to him. This time, the siblings turned around. The left sides of their faces were covered with the black markings, the whites of their eyes were black and the irises were yellow.

"So it's you... hopeless little dobe," said Sasuke in an emotionless tone, his face completely neutral. "She sent you, huh?"

Naruto knew he wasn't referring to the Godaime.

"Well, look at you. What's with the angry face? Are you still jealous that, despite my obvious dislike for her, Sakura still chooses to go after me instead of you? Pathetic."

Now angry at the boy, Naruto yelled at him, "What the hell is your problem? What made you act like this? And you," the intensity of his glare made Ryūko step back a little. "Why aren't you stopping him? He's your brother, and you're gonna let him fall into the hands of a snake? Wake up! If Orochimaru takes control of him, you won't be able to protect him!"

Ryūko narrowed her eyes, "This isn't just about protecting Sasuke-"

"SHUT UP! Stop trying to trick yourself into thinking that! Stop trying to trick yourself into thinking that this is still about Itachi! Sasuke's goal is to kill him, not yours!" before he could say anything else, Sasuke spoke up.

"Stop wasting your breath, dobe, because it doesn't matter if she's with me or against me, I'll still crush anyone that gets in my way," the boy smirked.

Ryūko, taken aback by this, looked at her brother in confusion, her Curse Mark receding. She knew he was obsessed with revenge, and she knew that he would often say things like this, but this time was different. Sasuke really meant it when he said he could crush anyone, including Ryūko, Naruto, Sakura and everyone else that cared about him. He had gone too far.

The male Uchiha was getting ready to fight the Uzumaki, however a hand placed in front of him made him pause. "Sasuke, stop."

No sound was made after that. Naruto's body tensed, as did Ryūko's. They knew that Sasuke was about to go off. The first move was made by Sasuke. Faster than the normal eye could see, he pulled a kunai out from his pouch and tried to make a swipe at Ryūko's stomach, but she was prepared for something like that. Using chakra to give herself a boost, the female Uchiha jumped away from him, landing a few metres to the right.

"Don't even try it, Sasuke. It's two against one, there's no point in fighting us."

"What's your problem, Ryūko? I thought you wanted the powers Orochimaru could give you."

"Not if it meant giving up who I am! Look at yourself, look at what you've become!"

"I'm becoming strong, stronger than you, clearly."

"Is that so? Then how about you prove it!" suddenly, an explosion could be heard and a torrent of water could be seen in the distance.

"Haru..." Naruto whispered, but Ryūko caught it. Conflicted, she didn't know what to do. Help Haru, who could be in danger, or help Naruto bring Sasuke back?

Sasuke began to laugh again, "Make a choice, Ryūko!"

"Ryūko!" Naruto called to her. "Go to Haru!"

"But-"

"Trust me!" Naruto asked, his thumb held up and a grin on his face. "I made a promise to Sakura, now I'm making a promise to you!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, dobe," the dark haired Genin said as his anger for the Jinchuriki grew. He hated the way he was so confident about himself.

After taking one last look at Sasuke, Ryūko turned and ran towards the source of the water. _'Okay, Naruto... I trust you.'_

* * *

_[Back with Haru, Ino and Sakura]_

Kimimaro took a step forward, intent on finishing this with one strike so he could fulfil his purpose to Orochimaru, when a sword was suddenly thrown towards him. When he saw it coming towards him, he lifted up his arm and deflected it with his bones. The sword landed right next to Ino and Sakura, and when they recognised, they almost jumped for joy.

When the trio of Genin looked at the source of the attack, they expected to see Ryūko with her signature smirk, arms crossed and amusement in her eyes. Instead, their smiles dropped off their faces at what they saw.

Yes, it was definitely Uchiha Ryūko, but she looked... let's just say, 'different'.

Instead of her skin being pale, it was a light grey. The whites of her eyes were not, in fact white, they were black. Her lips were a darker grey than her skin and she also had a black ring around each eye. There was also a black, pointed line that started on her cheek, continued down her neck and ended somewhere under her clothes, the same on the other side. Her nails also turned into claws like Kimimaro's, except they weren't as long. As for her head? Her hair was still black, except the pony tail was gone. The only other different were the two horns on her head that started just behind her hair line, went up and back at around a forty-five degree angle, and ended with a slight curve. They looked to be around six, maybe seven inches long and three inches wide at the base, getting smaller as they neared the points.

"Pumpkin Sparkle...?" asked Haru. He could hardly hear his own voice from how quiet he was. When Ryūko looked at him, he almost needed new underwear. Her Sharingan was the same, except this time she was angry _at_ him, and that made all the difference.

"_**How many times do I have to tell you? Stop calling me that!**_" even her voice sounded... evil, and when she opened her mouth, you could see her canines had grown slightly.

"_**You might want to calm down, the first taste of the second stage always changes you**_," Kimimaro advised. Despite the Genin in front of him leaking a dangerous amount of K.I., he was not scared.

"_**Did I ask for your opinion? No? Then shut up!**_"

"Ryūko, watch it! He's really strong!" warned Ino. Although she was happy that Ryūko had come back to them, she wasn't too excited about this new form she had taken.

"_**Don't worry, Ino-san. I'm better**_," replied Ryūko, now focused on the Sound ninja again.

"_**Such youthful arrogance... I'm going to crush that, and you**_."

"_**We'll see**_. _**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**_!" a large fireball erupted from the Uchiha's mouth, heading straight for Kimimaro, but he merely flattened himself against the ground, resulting in the fireball flying straight over him. He jumped up again, ready to shoot bone pellets at her from his arm, but she was no longer there. He didn't see her around him, so that only left one option. Just as he looked up, a foot came crashing down onto his shoulder, almost dislocating it.

_'How had she jumped so high? Is that her Cursed Mark's ability?'_ Kimimaro asked himself as he was knocked onto his back. Ryūko followed up by going for another kick, but the man rolled out of the way. He tried to trip her up but she jumped over it. Kimimaro stood up and tried to slice her with one of his bone swords, but she grabbed the blade between her hands and yanked it out of his grasp.

The Uchiha kneed the man in the stomach, making him lean forward, and then she upper-cut his jaw. Kimimaro used the momentum to flip backwards and land in a crouch before lunging at her with his arms outstretched. Ryūko grabbed his wrists, jumped up and threw him backwards, making him crash face-first into the ground. When he got up again, she ran towards him and aimed a spinning roundhouse kick towards his head, and thinking he could easily block it, he lifted up his arm.

How wrong he was.

As soon as her shin connected with his arm, he thought a meteor had fallen from the sky and hit him. If it wasn't for his extra strong bones, he was sure they would all have shattered from that blow. Kimimaro was sent flying until his back connected with one of the trees on the edge of the field. At this point, the Sound ninja was seriously rethinking his priorities.

The way she was now, Ryūko would end up knocking Kimimaro out, if not killing him! What use was he to Orochimaru dead? Seeing no other option, the man tried to flee into the forest.

"_**Like hell you're getting away**_!" Ryūko went through hand signs that Haru recognised. She had only used this jutsu once before, and it wiped all of Team 4's enemies at the cost of the girl's chakra. While she was in the second Cursed Mark's form, the blond boy knew she wouldn't have nearly as much trouble this time.

"Ryūko, stop!" he couldn't let her start a forest fire when their comrades were probably still in there somewhere. The Genin ran in front of his teammate, arms spread in a protective stance. "Don't do this, just let him go."

"_**Why**_?" she asked, angry at him for interfering.

"Because if you do, you could kill Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji!"

"_**So**_? _**At least that bastard would be dead**_."

"I don't think you mean that. Just deactivate the Cursed Mark, and let's go get Sasuke and Naruto."

"_**...**_"

"Ryūko, please."

She sighed, "_**Fine**_."

The kunoichi closed her eyes and pictured all the purple chakra in her body going back into the mark on her neck. Eventually, she turned back to normal, however due to the massive change in her chakra levels, she fell forward. Fortunately, Haru was there to catch her. "Gotcha, Pumpkin Sparkle."

"I told you not to call me that," she said as she regained her balance.

"When do I ever listen to you?"

Before Ryūko could respond, someone behind them cleared their throat. Sakura was holding _Danzetsu_ out to Ryūko and was smiling, despite still being nervous around the older girl. The Uchiha thanked her and sheathed the sword, but as she was about to return to where she knew Sasuke and Naruto would be battling, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"I believe you forgot something," Ino said as she held out Ryūko's headband, a smirk on her face and her free hand on her hip.

"Ah, thank you, Ino-san," the dark haired girl said. She accepted the offered item and tied it around her upper left arm. "Now, let's go get that prick back to Konoha."

* * *

**A/N: TWO CHAPTERS IN A ROW?! I AM ON FIRE TODAY!**

**After this chapter, I should be able to start pacing the story again, so I hope future chapters won't seem like they've been written by a five year old. I have one more completely ORIGINAL arc to write before part two. I can't wait to see your reactions to a certain... 'thing'.**

**Just a bit of information here: I assume Cursed Marks give the user some kind of ability (Sasuke uses his wings to fly) so I just gave Ryūko really powerful legs. The only disadvantage is she cannot use that ability straight after each other, there has to be a certain amount of time between uses.**

**Another thing, Ino/Ryūko is not necessarily going to happen. If they do, then fine. If they don't they will be friends. Ino DOES NOT hold any romantic feelings towards Ryūko.**

**Review response:**

_**Guest (maybe the same one from last time): "Sasuke loves Sakura and respects her as a ninja. And he never abused her. It must kill you he married her, you self-inserting moron. Kill yourself, loser."**_

**oh nu I cri.**

**Nah, just kidding. Did you read the manga/watch the anime? Just from off of the top of my head, I can remember when he called her annoying, tried to kill her with a kunai (yes, she acted first but he knew she would never actually try to kill him), knocked the apples out of Sakura's hands in the hospital when all she was trying to do was help and let's not forget how much he looked down on everyone (including Sakura) in the academy. He only loved and respected her in the last few chapters of the manga, which were obviously forced on us (Kishimoto himself admitted that he regretted not setting them up earlier, so instead he rushed their romance). Does that sound like love to you? It certainly doesn't to me.**

**And no, it doesn't kill me that they got married because if Kishimoto had eased the romance in rather than rush it, and give me reason to think Sakura was okay in the head for still liking Sasuke, I would have been completely fine with SasuSaku. In fact, I kind of liked it in the start, but when Sasuke turned psychotic, I began to question Sakura's intelligence.**

**Again with the self-inserting. Can you read? I quite clearly explained in the last chapter the difference between an OC and an SI. Try going back to nursery/kindergarten, or whatever you call it, before attempting to insult me. Also, 'kill yourself'? Get some original content, half of the internet has already claimed that one.**

**From now on, I'm going to delete any reviews you send me. You want to keep arguing? Grow some balls and PM me, fuckface ;)**


	7. Ninja Impossible

_Disclaimer: Did Gaara survive Lee's __**Ura Renge**__ despite it supposedly being able to break pretty much every bone in the victim's body (even though he did have the sand to protect him, that still shouldn't have been enough)? If so, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs._

_'Thinking.'_

"Talking."

"**Jutsu**."

"_**Cursed Mark**_."

**Chapter 7: Ninja Impossible**

"SASUKE!"

"_**NARUTO**_!"

The two powerful jutsu collided with one another, creating an intense shockwave that was felt by all living creatures from miles around the valley. The statues of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were almost completely in ruins by the blast, and the once peaceful waterfall was now practically destroyed. When the smoke cleared and the hostile chakra dissolved into nothing, Konoha's Jinchūriki was laying on his back, a hole in his chest and blood pouring from it. The boy he had been fighting was now standing next to Naruto's unconscious form.

The headband, now with a cut through the middle that was caused by one of Naruto's Kyūbi mode claws, began to fall off of his head. It landed next to the Uzumaki's head, however the sound of the small impact made never woke him up.

* * *

"We're almost there! Just a little further!"

"Slow down, Ryūko! Not all of us still have energy like you do!" Haru yelled back towards his teammate. It was true, Haru had just used two powerful jutsu, and a lot of his chakra was drained by that large Sound ninja guy, and Ino and Sakura ran at top speed all the way to him even though their chakra and stamina levels weren't very impressive.

"I can't! Sasuke's in trouble!" instead of waiting for her comrades, she just charged ahead, ignoring their protests. Ryūko arrived at the clearing a few minutes ahead of the other three, so she began to search through all the rubble. "Sasuke! Naruto! Where are you?!" when there was no response, she panicked.

She only ceased her frantic searching when she caught sight of a bright orange jumpsuit. As soon as she reached the Jinchūriki, she almost burst into tears at the sight of the gruesome wound. She almost never noticed it healing by itself, although it wasn't healing at the ideal pace.

Deciding to act first and ask questions later, she pulled off her cropped hoodie and pressed the material firmly against the opening to the injury. Thankfully, the amount of blood escaping the boy's body decreased.

The female Uchiha glared at the damaged headband. _'How could he do this to his own teammate? Bastard. When I get my hands on you, not even Kami will be able to save you from the Hell I'll be putting you through.'_

"Ryūko!" shouted Ino as she, Sakura and Haru broke through the tree line. Without wasting another second, the trio rushed to the older girl's side. "Is... is he...?"

"No, but he was close," Ryūko replied. "We should get him to the hospital as soon as possible."

"Agreed. Let's move, and at the same time, we can look out for everyone else that came if they haven't already arrived back at the village."

* * *

"So the mission was a failure..." said Shikamaru, regret evident in his voice. "Damn it, I should have been a better leader." The Nara was sitting on the edge of Naruto's bed. Despite his serious injuries, the Uzumaki was already sitting up and was able to move most of his body without too much pain.

"Don't blame yourself, Shikamaru, I was the one who failed to beat some sense into that teme's head," Naruto smiled sadly at his friend.

"But if I hadn't depended on the rest of you as much as I did, and instead you depended on me, this might not have happened."

"No, everything would have played out exactly the same. In fact, if we had a different squad leader, then I doubt everyone would have made it back alive, never mind uninjured. Who was it that out-smarted the chakra-absorbing jutsu? You. Who was able to carry the burden of making the difficult decisions by leaving behind members of the team so that the rest could carry on? You. Who was it that stayed behind to fight the female Sound ninja so that Haru and I could carry on to get Sasuke and Ryūko? You.

"If anyone else was with us, none of that would have happened. As far as I'm concerned, and everyone else that was with us, you are a great leader," for the first time since the start of the Uchiha retrieval mission, Shikamaru smiled. Where had the old Naruto gone? "And besides, the mission wasn't a _complete_ failure. We got the slightly less emo looking one back, which I suppose is a bonus!" the black-haired boy chuckled. There he was.

It was then that Sakura and Tsunade entered the room. Naruto, with a sorrowful look in his eyes, prepared to tell Sakura the truth about Sasuke.

* * *

It took the work of four medical ninjas to get the female Uchiha in bed, and it took another two to make sure she stayed there. With her jacket gone, her mesh t-shirt and black sports bra were visible for anyone that walked in to see, but that didn't bother her in the slightest.

Ryūko had better things to think about, such as how exhausted she felt from using the Cursed Mark's second stage, how much of twat Sasuke was, and Naruto's healing abilities. Just how was he able to do that? The only person she knew of that was able to heal themselves like that was Senju Hashirama, but he was long dead and as far as she knew, Naruto wasn't related to him.

Ryūko was brought out of her thoughts by a gentle knock at the door. After saying the visitor could come in, the door slid open and Ino walked in with a hand behind her back. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey yourself," said Ryūko. "So what brings you here?"

"Well I just visited Chōji, although I wasn't allowed to see him, so I decided to try with Shikamaru, but I don't know where he went, therefore I visited my third choice."

"I'm your third choice? I'm flattered."

"Actually my third choice was Neji, but I wasn't able to see him either," from her small smirk, Ryūko was able to tell that the blonde was kidding, however she decided to play along.

Placing a hand to her heart, she said, "Oh, how the fair maiden wounds me! How will I ever recover from such heartbreak?"

"Shut it, you!" Ino giggled as she gently slapped the other Genin's arm and sat on the edge of the bed. "I brought something for you," she said as she revealed what was behind her back. It was a medium sized vase filled with blue/purple hydrangea flowers. "When I saw them, I thought of you. They mean perseverance."

"That made you think of me?" asked Ryūko as Ino placed the flowers on the bedside table.

"Yup, becomes I know that no matter what is thrown your way, you won't give up on Sasuke, or anyone else!"

The sound of glass breaking, furniture being smashed against walls and many people shouting made Ryūko and Ino look at the door in confusion. The Uchiha reached for her sword when the door was almost taken off its hinges, however she relaxed when she saw who it was.

"Pumpkin Sparkle!" yelled Haru before he was tackled to the ground by a doctor and various nurses. It took a few minutes for Haru to escape, and when he did, he ran into his teammate's room and shut the door behind him. He made sure to press his body up against it so that the doctor and nurses wouldn't be able to open it. "Hey there!" he greeted.

"Um... are you okay?" asked Ryūko. The pounding on the door never stopped.

"Me? Yeah of course I am, why do you ask?"

"Well, what's with everyone trying to take you down like you're on Konoha's 'Most Wanted' list?"

"Oh... they don't want me running around while my chakra's so low."

"Ah..."

"..."

"..."

"So how are you going to escape?" asked Ino. "Because right now, you're trapped."

"I never actually thought this through."

"Clearly," said Ryūko. "Honestly Haru, sometimes you can be-" she stopped talking when Haru was almost thrown onto the ground by the force of something attempting to bust the door down. "You are soooo screwed."

"Angel, quick, open the window!" Ino did as she was asked by Haru and quickly got out of the way when she realised what his plan was. The boy took a deep breath, let go of the door and charged towards his only exit. "Bye Pumpkin Sparkle, Angel!" he yelled as he dived out the window.

_'Wait a minute, he doesn't have access to his chakra right now, and we're on the second floor!' _**(A/N: That's the third floor for those of you that call the ground floor, the 'first floor'.)**

The sound of wood breaking confirmed the Uchiha's thoughts. The two females winced, like they could feel Haru's pain. The door to the room opened and three male nurses and one female doctor came rushing into the room.

"Where is Nakahara-san?" asked the doctor. Ryūko pointed to the window and the woman went over to inspect it. On the ground below, there was a broken bench, however Haru was nowhere to be found. "We must inform Tsunade-sama."

As soon as the adults left, Ino began to laugh, and even Ryūko had to admit that her teammate's actions were amusing. She couldn't explain why, but when Ino saw the Uchiha's smile, her heart fluttered in her chest. Not knowing what that feeling meant, she decided to excuse herself and return home to see if her family needed help with the flower shop.

_'What the hell was that? Everything just got really warm and happy... like I had a... no, girls don't feel that way about each other, it's not right,'_ Ino thought as she walked down one of the hospital's many ice-white corridors. _'Sure, Ryūko is nice, caring, strong... although she _did _hold a blade to my throat at one point... but she came back in the end. Ugh, just leave it, Ino. It probably doesn't even mean anything.'_

* * *

"Tadaima!" [1] the Yamanaka heiress shouted when she opened the door to her family's flower shop. Her mother and father came out from inside the backroom to greet her.

"Welcome back, Ino-chan! How was your visit to the hospital? Did your friend like the flowers you brought?" her mother asked before taking off her dirt-covered and apron and bringing her daughter into a tight hug. Inoichi just stood back and smiled at the mother-daughter duo.

"Yup!"

"Wonderful! Who is your friend anyway?" the woman asked as she hung up her apron on a nearby peg. She had brown hair that was tied into a tight bun with a red ribbon and brown eyes, and like the rest of the Yamanaka clan, they lacked pupils. There were slight wrinkles at the sides of her mouth, showing her age. It was clear that Ino got most of her looks from her father.

"Uchiha Ryūko, Sasuke's older sister."

Inoichi froze, however Tsubaki [2] just continued to speak.

"Oh, the same Sasuke from your academy class? I think I remember him having a sister."

"Really? Because I never even knew she existed."

"Are you sure? What about the girl that used to pick him up at the end of the day? She was taller than him and wore a lot of green."

Now that the young Genin thought about it, she did recall seeing someone like that occasionally, but she never wore the Uchiha clan symbol, so Ino just assumed she was a family friend.

"Uchiha?" Ino's father finally spoke. "You're friends with an Uchiha?" Inoichi's eyes were full of malice.

"Inoichi, dear-"

The older blond ignored his wife and took a step forward. "Ino, Uchihas are dangerous."

"You don't understand, Ryūko-"

"No Ino, you don't understand. Having a crush on one is bad enough and I only let it go on because I knew that nothing would ever come of it, but being friends with one? Especially when they've gone through such pain and loss? Absolutely not."

"What are you talking about? What does that mean?"

"Stay away from her, Ino. That's an order."

"Otou-san-!" [3]

"Go to your room," Inoichi turned around and continued to trim some flowers in a nearby pot.

"Otou-san, listen to me."

"Yamanaka Ino, I said get to your room," he kept his back to her.

Ino glared at him before storming towards the door that led to the shop's upstairs, A.K.A their second home. Despite having a clan compound, the Clan Head and his wife decided to have a place where their daughter could have time away from the rest of the Yamanakas.

When Ino was in her room, Tsubaki gently placed her hand on her husband's shoulder and made him face her. "That was too much."

"It was necessary, she can't hang around with an Uchiha."

"Don't judge someone based on their last name. Remember Obito? He was such a nice boy, nothing like the rest of his family."

"I'm not judging her. In fact, she might even be exactly like Obito, however trouble follows that clan. With Sasuke gone, who knows what that girl will do? You remember the Uchiha's curse of hatred."

"Oh shush, that's only a myth."

"Is it? What happened to Uchiha Madara? Uchiha Itachi? How can you explain them?" Tsubaki sighed at Inoichi's words. The man had a point, but there was no proof of such a curse existing. "Let's not forget what has to happen for an Uchiha to achieve the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Are you trying to say that Ryūko will become evil?"

"..."

"Inoichi-"

"I just don't want Ino getting mixed up into it, that's all."

"You can't control her. Ino's a ninja now, she's practically an adult! Only she can decide her future, you'd do well to remember that," Tsubaki began to walk towards the same door Ino left through, intent on checking up on the girl, however she paused for a moment. "Oh, and by the way, you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

* * *

Ino sat on her bed with her legs crossed and a pillow in her lap. She was currently glaring holes into her purple wall, but a knock at her door made her stop. Thinking it was her dad, she threw the pillow at the door and yelled at them to go away, but the guest entered the room anyway.

"Now, is that any way to speak to your Okaa-san?" [4] Tsubaki teased. The brunette picked up the pillow-turned-weapon and shut the door behind her.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were Chichi." [5]

"Ah, that explains your violence."

"Look, I don't want a lecture about staying away from Ryūko."

"Well good thing I'm not here to give you one," Tsubaki sat on the edge of the purple bed. "Ino, Inoichi is only trying to look out for you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, but keeping me away from a friend? Just because of her clan? I don't see the logic behind that."

"He's just scared, that's all."

"Of what?" Ino got up and began to pace around her room. "Ryūko would never hurt me! She's kind, not like Sasuke."

"I don't doubt it, but Inoichi does. He doesn't think she's a bad person, but he believes that she has the potential to turn into something evil."

"What is with that? And what did he mean about Uchihas being dangerous?"

"Ino, honey, sit down please," Tsubaki smiled sadly, and when her daughter took a seat next to her, she sighed and prepared her story. "You remember Uchiha Madara's tale from your history class, don't you?"

"One of the founders of Konoha? Yeah, I remember. There's a statue of him and Senju Hashirama at the Valley of the End, where their battle ended. It's also where Sasuke and Naruto fought."

"What else do you know about him?"

"He tried to keep peace with the villages by controlling them, while Hashirama wanted to form an alliance with them. They disagreed and because the rest of his clan didn't want to follow Madara, he fled the village. He came back sometime after with the Kyūbi, wanting to take over Konoha, but Hashirama wouldn't let him. At the Valley of the End, Hashirama killed Madara."

"Yes, but something that isn't talked about very often is the Uchiha's Sharingan. More importantly, how they get it."

"What do you mean?"

"When an Uchiha experiences great emotional stress, typically when it involves someone precious to them, a special chakra is released from their brain. It affects their optic nerves, giving them the Sharingan. The emotion they feel is usually a negative one, therefore people claim the Uchihas have a 'Curse of Hatred'.

"Senju Tobirama, the second Hokage, believed that the Uchiha are people greatly devoted to love and friendship, however they tend to hide their more affectionate traits. When an Uchiha's most precious person is lost, their love can instantly turn into pure hatred, leaving them more inclined to do anything to achieve their goals, which are almost always something to do with getting revenge. When this happens, an Uchiha's Sharingan evolves into an advanced form, known as the Mangekyō Sharingan. Although it gives the user great power, it sends them down a path of complete darkness, one from which they can never return."

"And Otou-san thinks Ryūko will go down this 'path of complete darkness'? Bullshit."

"Ino! Language!"

"Sorry, but that just doesn't seem like her. When I went to see her in the hospital, we were talking, laughing and having fun! I didn't see any signs of this 'curse'," the heiress huffed and crossed her arms. "He is just being way too over-protective."

"I agree with you there, but just watch out, okay? I'm not asking you to stay away from the girl, but keep your eye out for anything suspicious. I better go, unless you want another history lesson?"

"No way!"

Tsubaki laughed and gave her daughter a one-armed hug. "I'll shout on you when dinner's ready."

"Okay, bye Okaa-san," the brunette left the room and made her way to the kitchen where her husband was already getting the dinner started. When she appeared by Inoichi's side, she gave the man a firm slap on the arm, knowing that it wouldn't hurt him but would still get her message across. "You're too harsh on Ino."

"I know, I know..." the shinobi hung his head and sighed. "I just want her to be prepared for the future. Being a ninja isn't easy, and if you're brought up thinking that the world is a loving place, then you'll be the first one destroyed by it."

"You're being too pessimistic."

"No, I'm being _realistic_! Ino isn't ready, and she never will be if she keeps acting like the way she is now! First, she gets a crush on a boy and ignores her training in favour of looking good for him, then she gets put on a team with two boys that she constantly argues with, and now she's trying to be friendly to an Uchiha? I won't allow it," in an effort to seem intimidating, Inoichi stood up straight, crossed his arms and glared at his wife.

Tsubaki, a good six inches shorter than Inoichi, stood her ground and never looked away from the man's eyes. Before Inoichi realised what was happening, he was bent over and crying out in mild pain. Ino's mother was gripping the ninja's ear tightly while frowning. "Don't you glare at your wife. You're already sleeping on the couch, don't make me send you back to the compound."

* * *

**A Couple of Hours Later**

"Dun dun, da-da dun dun, da-da dun dun, da-da dun dun, da-da," civilians watched in shock, and slight fear, as a blond boy hummed his own theme tune while sneaking through the streets.

Well, 'sneaking' probably isn't the correct term to use here.

The Genin was hiding in boxes, diving behind people and even crawling from one side of the street to the next. Many who were witnessing these bizarre actions wondered if there had been in a mistake in giving him a ninja headband.

Eventually, the blond made to a wall that was about ten feet high. The pure white structure obscured a cluster of buildings, their sizes ranging from sheds to a modern house with two floors. The boy was able to use a nearby box to grab onto the top of the wall and pull himself over, however instead of jumping down, he stood up and began to quickly walk along the wall until he was opposite a tree.

Many of the ANBU that had been ordered to protect the area were baffled. This Genin, obviously old enough to have been on plenty of missions, was trying to stealth his way into one of the most protected places in Konoha. Knowing that the boy had no ill intentions towards the owner of the cluster of buildings, they let him continue while still keeping an eye on him.

"Doo dee doo... doo dee doo... doo dee doo... doo doo!" he ran across the tree's branches and as soon as he reached the end of its longest one, he jumped forward and grabbed onto the edge of one of the building's roofs. He pulled himself up and ran towards another building before jumping again. The ninja continued to do this a few more times until he reached the biggest building in the area.

Using his chakra, he walked down the side of the building until he reached a window on the ground floor. Inside was a large kitchen with a round table, surrounded by five chairs, in the middle. In one of those chairs, conveniently with their back to him, was his target.

Without making a sound, the boy entered the kitchen via the window and crouched down behind the chair. Slowly, while grinning like a maniac, he stood up and raised his hands above his head. The Genin opened his mouth, and-

"RYŪKO-CHAN!" the boy hugged Ryūko from behind and buried his head into her shoulder.

Without flinching, or dropping the mug of coffee or the newspaper in her hands, the girl replied, "Hello Haru."

"Aw, why aren't you scared? I was super sneaky so you definitely didn't hear me come in!" Haru sat down in one of the chairs next to his teammate.

"You're right, I didn't hear you come in, but you were singing a theme tune," she looked up from the newspaper. "I heard you as soon as you entered the compound."

"Oh... well I'm surprised you didn't come find me and kick me out," he laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "That's what Daichi usually does."

Ryūko smiled and put the newspaper down. "Don't be stupid, you're always welcome here. Can I get you anything? A drink? A snack?"

"No thanks, I just ate," Haru rubbed his belly with both hands. "So how have you been?"

"Perfectly fine," she lied. In truth, the loss of Sasuke really hit her hard, however she refused to show it. Blame her Uchiha pride for that. "What about you? Has any of your chakra come back?"

"Yup, most of it!"

"That's good. Just out of curiosity, what caused you to lose so much? When I arrived, you seemed tired but still in shape."

"I just used two jutsu that Hideyoshi-sensei taught me during the Chūnin exam one month preparation. I guess I was still high on adrenaline, so I was still able to jump around a bit."

"Ah, I see...I have another question. A few hours ago, when you foolishly jumped through that hospital window, the doctor said she was going to get the Hokage. Did she ever find you?"

Haru's face lost all of its colour and he shrank back into his seat. "I don't want to talk about that..." even his voice sounded distant.

Despite her curiosity growing as she imagined what exactly the woman could have done to the poor boy, Ryūko dropped the subject. "All right, let's talk about something else."

* * *

A couple of hours later, the sky was beginning to darken and many of the villagers had retired to their homes. Not wanting to worry his mother, Haru decided to head home from the Uchiha compound.

When Ryūko opened the front door to her house so Haru could leave, she gently grabbed his arm before he could step outside. "Haru, why did you decide to visit me today?"

"Cause I missed you, Pumpkin Sparkle."

Deciding to ignore his use of the horrible nickname, the Uchiha continued to question her friend, "That's not the whole reason."

"Honestly, it is."

"Haru."

"I swear, it's-"

"_Haru_," the taller of the two sighed.

"Fine. I knew you were upset about... recent events, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. You're tough, I know that, but I care about you and I couldn't stand the thought of you being in pain," he looked down so that Ryūko couldn't see the blush on his cheeks.

It was silent for a while, and thinking that he had somehow upset the brunette, the Nakahara excused himself and walked out the door. However, he was only able to take a few steps because a hand on his arm stopped him once again.

Haru didn't know what to expect. A punch? A kick? A slap? Maybe even just a verbal insult? After all, his teammate was Uchiha Ryūko. She wasn't known for being the gentlest person as she preferred to end things with actions rather than words.

He did not expect this.

When Haru had turned around, Ryūko was leaning up and before he realised what was happening, something warm had planted itself on his cheek. Unfortunately for him, it was over in seconds.

"Thank you, Haru," Ryūko said with the kindest smile she had ever given him. The kunoichi stepped back inside the house and shut the door, leaving the poor, yet happy boy, frozen.

A couple of minutes passed before he moved, but when he did, the ANBU were nearly knocked out of their positions in the trees from how unexpectedly loud he was. He punched the air multiple times as he yelled in victory, jumping about on the spot. He then started to run to his house, his shouting never decreasing in volume.

* * *

A few weeks later, everything had calmed down. It didn't take long for the teams to get back into action, however Team 7 was the only exception to that. The trio-turned-duo (plus Kakashi) weren't feeling up for anything other than D-Ranks, which is understandable considering what they've been through. Naruto hardly ever left his apartment because he felt wholly responsible for Sasuke's betrayal. Sakura rarely smiled, and when she did, it was only for a moment. Kakashi's time was usually spent at the memorial stone where he would trace the names of his comrades, believing that he had failed them once again.

Despite the efforts of everyone else, Team 7 just... wasn't Team 7 anymore.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune entered the Hokage's office with a stack of folders in her arms. The Hokage herself was hunched over her desk, hands in front of her face as she read over the file in front of her.

"Yes, Shizune?"

The black haired woman placed the folders on a clear spot on the desk with a huff. She _did_ carry the entire pile up a lot of stairs. "These are the new missions you asked for."

"Ah, the ones that came in just a few days ago? Thank you," the blonde took the one that was on top of the pile and began to skim through it. After a few moments, she placed it on the other side of the desk. She did the same with around twelve more, however they were split into different piles. The missions that the Senju deemed to be D-Rank would go in the first pile, C-Rank would go in the second, B-Rank would go in the third, A-Rank would go in the fourth, and lastly, S-Rank would go in the last. So far, there were no missions in the S-Rank pile as they were usually quite rare.

"Hm..." Tsunade's eyes narrowed at the folder she was currently looking through.

"Tsunade-sama? What is it?" asked Shizune as she poured the Hokage a cup of sake.

"This mission... something seems off about it."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Shizune placed the sake next to the Hokage and stood behind her, reading the folder over the older woman's shoulder.

"Missions that people request state what the problem is, possibly why it happened, and what they want us to do about it, however this one is strange. All it says is there's a dilemma in Mori no Kuni [6]. Apparently, an army of very strong bandits, some of them mercenaries, have taken over a small village and the surrounding land. What's strange about it is that they've requested us when there's perfectly good samurai nearby."

"Maybe this is their first time?"

"Even so... I don't like this, I feel like if we accept it, we'd be running right into a trap."

"But what if it isn't a trap? What if these people are actually in danger?"

"... Shizune, how many ninja are available?"

"Not a lot, the village is still recovering. We may have built everything back up, but we've lost a lot of money, so most of our ninja are away on missions. Currently, we have all of Team 4, most of Team 7 and one member of Team 10. We also have Hatake Kakashi, Inoue Hideyoshi, and Mitarashi Anko."

"Great. Send all of them."

"All... _all_ of them? Tsunade-sama, that's nine people for one mission. A B-Rank should only require two teams if they're good enough, but three teams worth of ninja? That's a bit much."

"I am aware, but keep in mind that six of them are still just Genin."

"I know that, but those Genin are some of the strongest Genin this village has had in a long, long time."

"That doesn't matter. If you're right about this being a trap, then they need to be prepared for anything. If it's not, then at least the villagers will feel extra safe."

"That's true, but if it is a trap, then we'll be sending both our last Uchiha and our Jinchūriki to their death. Is this really worth the risk?"

"No, it's not, that's why I want some ANBU tailing them until they get to the village. After that, I want them hiding somewhere. Far enough that they won't be seen but close enough so that if anything happens, they can get those Genin out of there. Now, could you please send for the teams?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Shizune bowed and exited the room. The old Senju sighed and spun her chair so that she could look outside one of the large windows behind her. Her assistant was right, was this mission really worth the risk? Konoha couldn't afford to lose a Jinchūriki, and more importantly, if Ryūko were to die, then where would that leave the Uchiha clan?

A sudden knock on her door brought the woman out of her thoughts. _'Oh, that was quick. Maybe I should give Shizune a raise... wait, I don't pay her...'_

"Come in!" the Hokage shouted as she turned her chair around again. She closed the mission folder and placed it on top of the B-Rank pile. When the visitor entered, Tsunade frowned.

Shimura Danzō was an older member of the village, even older than Tsunade, and he had lived through terrible wars. The ex-shinobi was part of the ninja council and his voice always drowned out many others, which was usually a bad thing. The man had a reputation of being ruthless, cunning and merciless, however he was also a strong leader.

Many believed that Danzō was an evil man, and even though he cared deeply for Konoha, his methods were... a little on the extreme side.

"Hokage-sama," he greeted with a smile.

"Danzō. What brings you here?"

"Nothing much. The weather's nice today isn't it?"

"You clearly want something, just spit it out."

"You want to skip the small talk? Fine, I can respect that," the man browsed the many books on a nearby bookshelf. "Hokage-sama, you are aware that I have trained some of the best, and most loyal ninja, correct?"

"You are talking about Root, I assume? The ANBU subdivision?"

"I am."

"The same Root that was disbanded by the Third Hokage because your questionable methods rendered all of its members emotionless, detached and loyal to you, but only you?"

"That is besides the point," Danzō waved it off. "The members of the now extinct division were some of Konoha's best, perhaps even better than the main ANBU ninja."

"Danzō, you know that I don't like you, so just cut it short so I can say 'no' quicker."

"Hokage-sama, I would like to have custody of both Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Ryūko-"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They don't need you in their lives, especially not Naruto seeing as Jiraiya is teaching him."

"Fine, then just Ryūko-"

"No."

Danzō was beginning to lose his temper. "Hokage-sama, Uchiha Ryūko is the _last _loyal Uchiha to Konoha! With my training, she will be completely loyal and powerful! And with the Nine-Tailed Beast's power on our side, we can repel any and all attackers! Why can't you see that this is for Konoha's benefit?"

"I will not have you turn valuable assets into your minions. Now leave, before I have you thrown out by shinobi that are actually loyal to me, and not you!" the medic ninja stood up and slammed her fists on the desk, creating two large cracks.

The Shimura took a deep breath and stared into Tsunade's eyes with his visible one. "Very well, I shall leave, but don't think that this is over."

* * *

"You wanted to see us, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked the blonde woman in front of him. He, Anko and Hideyoshi were in the Hokage's office while Ryūko, Haru, Daichi, Naruto, Sakura and Ino were standing outside (the room was big, but not that big!).

"Yes I did. A certain mission has caught my attention, and I believe that you three, plus the six outside, are best suited for the job. I hand-picked all of you to carry out this mission, so don't fail me," the Sannin handed Kakashi the folder, however before he could take it, the purple haired woman standing beside him grabbed it and left the room.

_'Hand-picked? They were the only ones available...'_ Shizune thought as she gave Tsunade a side-glare, which was returned with a beaming smile.

"Ah, Anko-san?" Anko ignored Kakashi's attempts at getting the folder back and continued to read it. "The one given the mission folder is the leader, so if I could just..." she dodged the hands that was trying to touch the folder.

"What the fuck is this shit? Where, on this piece of crap we call a planet, is Mori no Kuni?"

"Anko-san, if you would just give me the folder, I could-"

"Isn't that just to the south of Hi no Kuni [7]? Near the Kaze no Kuni [8] border?" Daichi commented as he approached the Snake Mistress. "Isn't that governed by samurai?"

"If that's true, then why the hell would these people send for ninja? This is weird, and I don't like it," Anko crossed her arms after throwing the folder behind her, which Kakashi caught just before it hit the ground.

The masked man coughed into his fist and addressed everyone present, "Like it or not, we have a mission to complete. Gather your things because we leave in," he looked at his imaginary watched, "two hours."

"Wait, all of us?" asked Sakura.

"No, just Team 7, everyone else is just here to watch... _Yes_, everyone. Sakura, please pay attention. Let's meet at the South Gate!" and with that, the man 'poofed' away, leaving all the Genin still confused.

With a shrug of their shoulders, Anko and Hideyoshi followed their fellow Jōnin.

Well, technically Anko was an 'almost Jōnin', but who cares?

* * *

**A/N: Here it is, the start of my original arc. I hope you enjoy what's to come. I also hope you like the pairing, because I'm preeeeeetty sure I made it obvious who it's going to be ;) ;) ;)**

**I know I made Inoichi seem like a bit of a prick, but I see him as kind of a semi-strict father who just wants his little girl to grow up. And, after what happened with Madara and Itachi, I'm pretty sure most sensible people would be wary of the Uchihas.**

**Another thing: I'm not entirely sure about the Senju/Uchiha history, so please correct me if I'm wrong.**

**One more thing: I have no idea where Mori no Kuni is because the Wikipedia page doesn't tell me, so I just put it near Hi no Kuni because both lands have forests.**

**[1] - "Tadaima" means "I'm home".**

**[2] - I don't think the name of Ino's mother was revealed, so I just made one up for her. It means 'camellia flower'.**

**[3] - "Otou-san" is what you call your father when addressing him.**

**[4] - "Okaa-san" is what you call your mother when addressing her.**

**[5] - "Chichi" is what you call your father when you are talking about him.**

**[6] - "Mori no Kuni" means "Land of Forests".**

**[7] - "Hi no Kuni" means "Land of Fire".**

**[8] - "Kaze no Kuni" means "Land of Wind".**


	8. Love is in the Air

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs. If I did, then there would be an equal amount of male/female Kage and other ninja._

"Talking."  
_'__Thinking.'  
_**"Jutsu."  
**_**"Cursed Mark."**_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Love is in the Air**

_[The Very South of Hi no Kuni]_

"How long is this boat ride?" asked Naruto. He, and the rest of the Konoha ninja assigned to this B-Rank mission were slowly making their way to a large island via a rickety wooden boat just big enough for the nine of them. When they all boarded the small boat, they each pulled straws to see who would take charge of the oars. Unluckily for Naruto, he pulled the short straw.

"Well, we've been here for around an hour, so my best guess is just over thirty minutes. If you look closely, you can just barely see the shoreline of Mori no Kuni," Hideyoshi replied. He was currently sharpening his kunai.

"What's our first move when we get there?" Daichi inquired.

"We head into the forest itself and after a few hours, we set up camp. The ones that requested the mission said that their village was on the other side of the island, so we should be able to make it there by midday tomorrow. Once we get to the village-"

"We kick the bandit leader's ass!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped up, making the boat shake.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled as she grabbed him by the bottom of his top and pulled him down. "You idiot! You let go of the oars and now they're floating away!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, could you get them back? Before Sakura decides to break your nose. _Again_."

With a quick salute, the Jinchūriki jumped off the boat and used his water walking to fetch the wooden objects. While he was doing that, Haru placed a comforting hand on Ryūko's shoulder. "How are ya holding up?"

"Pretty good, why?"

"I'm just worried, that's all," he smiled.

"You don't have to, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Even if you were as strong as Uchiha Madara, I'd still worry about you! You're my teammate, and teammates look out for each other."

"You don't treat me with such kindness, Haru," Daichi said as he leaned a bit towards the duo while smirking.

"Yeah, that's cause you're a piece of sh-"

"Language!" Hideyoshi lightly smacked the back of Haru's head. "I don't want to hear my little students use such foul words."

"Sensei! Stop treating us like children!"

"Oh Haru, the three of you will always be my children!" Hideyoshi then proceeded to gather up Team 4 and hug them close to his chest, squeezing the life out of them in the process.

_'This makes me glad that Kakashi-sensei neglects us...'_ thought Sakura while cringing at the scene in front of her. When she looked at the man that occupied her previous thought, she almost jumped off the boat.

"Ah, is that what you would like me to do with you and Naruto? Hm?" the Hatake gave his student one of his famous eye smiles, and if you looked closely, you might be able to see little hearts floating around his head.

"Oh Hell no!"

"But Sakura-"

"NO!"

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?!" Naruto had sprinted to the boat and jumped back in as fast as he could as soon as he heard his long-time crush scream. Seeing Sakura's panicked state made him forget exactly what he was doing, therefore he also forgot that he was directing chakra to his feet.

"Um, Naruto?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"Look down."

"Huh? Okay... AH!"

"No, baka! Don't pull your foot out!" the Haruno grabbed the bottom of Naruto's trousers and yanked his leg down. The Uzumaki's foot, which had pierced a hole in the boat, was promptly shoved back in to stop any further water from entering.

"Oh great, now my feet are wet. Great job, kid," Anko glared at the young blond.

"Hehe... sorry Anko-sensei."

"It's okay Naruto, just keep your foot there until we reach land."

"But Kakashi-sensei!"

"You brought this on yourself."

* * *

_[Mori no Kuni Beach, An Agonising 30 Minutes Later]_

"Where to now?" Ino asked as she stepped off of the boat.

"Further inland, of course. We'll go as far as we can until the sun sets, then we'll make camp. By then, we should almost be at the village," Anko responded. Once the hole in the boat was fixed and the boat secured on the beach so it didn't float away, the team of ninja set off to find the ones that had given them the contract.

The team of Anbu behind them, consisting of four members (Boar, Rat, Cat and Bird), made sure to reach Mori no Kuni before the nine Konohagakure ninja. This way they could easily see which direction they were going in instead of arriving after them and having to use Cat's sensory abilities to locate them.

* * *

_[Sunset]_

"Here should be fine," Kakashi said as he landed in a small clearing by a river. The rest soon followed him. The trees were good places for lookouts, and the river and the area surrounding it should provide a decent place to fight, should they encounter enemies.

"I agree, let's put up our tents here. We'll sleep until four o'clock tomorrow, which gives us six hours for sleeping after we've set everything up. I'll take the first shift, Kakashi will take the next, then Daichi, Ryūko and lastly, Hideyoshi. Happy?"

"Um, Anko-sensei? Why do Daichi and Ryūko have to be lookouts and not any of us?" Naruto asked. He wasn't thinking about how unfair it is that the two get less sleep, he just thought that the adults were picking favourites.

"Because, baka, Daichi and Ryūko have Dōjutsu that are very useful for locating danger. Daichi especially."

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. Hey, Sakura? Wanna share a tent?"

"Ew, no way!" before the pinkette could launch Naruto into oblivion with her fist, Kakashi came up behind her and grabbed her wrist.

"Naruto, you're a grown boy now. You should know that it's only polite for girls and boys to separated when sleeping. Sakura, give him a break."

"Ugh, fine. But I'm not sharing a tent with Ino-pig!"

"It's either that, or you sleep on the cold, hard ground. What's it gonna be?"

"Oh come on, Sakura, don't whine. It's only for a few hours anyway," Ino said as she finished setting up the tent she and her ex-best friend would be sharing."

"You're seriously not complaining? Jeez, what's gotten into you, pig? Besides Ryūko, of course."

Before Ino could reply, the sound of water gushing out of someone's mouth, like a spit-take, could be heard. The two girls looked at the source of the noise. Ryūko was bending over with her hands on her knees, coughing while Daichi was patting her back. Haru chuckled before cupping his mouth and saying "ohhhhh!"

Ino turned back to Sakura. "Okay, Billboard Brow. You better shut up before you say something you'll regret."

"Or you'll what?"

"Believe me, you don't want to find out!"

"Girls, girls! Shhh!" Anko stepped in between them. "This is NOT the right time to be fighting. If you're that desperate, wait until we're back in Konoha. Got it?"

"Yes, Anko-sensei."

"Good. I suppose you two staying together would result in a forest fire, so we'll scrap that and switch it up. Yamanaka, you're with me and Haruno, you're with Uchiha. Happy? Good. Scarecrow is with Happy Pill and the rest of the boys can squeeze in together."

"Happy Pill?" asked Hideyoshi.

"Yeah. You act like you're on some kind of happy drug all the time."

"Oh."

"In your tents! You can eat whatever you brought with you in there."

* * *

_[Beginning of __Ryūko__'s Shift]_

The dark haired kunoichi yawned as she silently crawled out of her tent. She looked at the trees behind the tents for a while, searching for her teammate when she heard some leaves rustle. She immediately located the source of the noise and ran up the tree until she reached the right branch.

Crouching next to Daichi, she whispered, "You're not being very quiet."

"I did that on purpose so you'd know where I was. I was getting bored watching you struggle."

"Asshole."

"Hideyoshi-sensei would disapprove."

"Hideyoshi-sensei can bite my entire ass. I'll take over now, so go sleep."

"All right, _Uchiha-sama_."

"Bite my entire-"

"Later," was the last thing the Hyūga said before running down the side of the tree. Ryūko sighed and sat down, letting her legs hang off the side of the thick branch. She let her Sharingan activate, making sure to change the direction she was facing every few minutes. Unlike Daichi, she didn't have complete 360 vision, so if she wanted to detect movement from all around, she had to move her head.

This isn't the first time she's had to keep watch over her teammates, so luckily she wouldn't get bored anytime soon. Besides, she only had to do this for just over an hour. The only problem she might encounter, besides enemies, is her butt becoming numb.

The Uchiha turned around to face the campsite. From what she could see, there wasn't much movement in the tent, and besides Naruto's foot sticking out, everyone seemed to be sleeping well. Ryūko turned around once again after three minutes.

So far, she hadn't seen anything except for the odd rabbit or squirrel, sometimes a fox, so she began to relax a bit. She removed _Danzetsu _from its place on her back and set it down next to her so it was resting against the trunk of the tree. The sky, although still dark, was beginning lighten up a bit, allowing the Uchiha to see the surrounding area better. Usually the girl would be sleeping right now, so it's rare for her to be able to appreciate the beauty this world has to offer. She was brought out of this thought when a pebble hit her foot.

"Psst, Pumpkin Sparkle! Can I come up?"

"Haru, you idiot. Go back to sleep."

"Hm... nah," the blond ignored his teammate and began to make his way up to her. Ryūko rolled her eyes, not surprised at all. "How are you?" the Nakahara asked as he sat down next.

"Fine. Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Any particular reason?"

"I couldn't bear the thought of you being up here all alone in the cold."

"Ugh."

"What? It's the truth!"

The kunoichi deactivated her Sharingan before making eye-contact with her teammate. "Haru, shut up."

"But Pumpkin Sparkle- ouch!" Ryūko reached over and pinched the skin on Haru's thigh. The boy pouted and gently rubbing the damaged skin. "Why do you hate that name so much?"

"It's silly. Why is my nickname so different?"

"What do ya mean?"

"Ino is Angel, Sakura is Cherry, Daichi is Broody... why am I 'Pumpkin Sparkle'?"

"You're wrong. The name suits you."

"How?"

"Well, 'pumpkin' is cute, which you are, as a nickname and my eyes 'sparkle' when I see your pretty face," Ryūko looked away after Haru finished speaking, like she was thinking. Haru, knowing what Ryūko was like, took that as a good sign. "You know, I meant it when I said I cared about you. A lot."

"Oh really? Then why do you flirt with every girl you see?"

"Because..."

"Because?"

The Nakahara sighed, "I flirt with girls so you don't realise exactly how I feel about you. You're smart, and very observant, so I knew you'd notice if I only act different around you. I had to hide it somehow. You're just... way too good for me. I thought you'd laugh if I confessed."

"You thought I'd laugh?"

"Yeah, but I don't think that now! Being your teammate, I got to know you better, and now I know that you wouldn't do such a mean thing like that."

"I see..." the two Genin turned away from each other. Haru's face was red, while only Ryūko's cheeks were a light pink. Neither of them knew what to do after that. A few minutes passed when the Uchiha decided that she had enough of the agonising silence. "Haru?" she asked, so quiet that it was almost a whisper.

"Y-yes?" the blond replied, turning his head towards her so fast that he almost got whiplash.

"I... I care about you too."

"Well, I'd hope so seeing as we're team-"

"No," Ryūko turned her head towards him, but kept her eyes down. Slowly, she placed her hand over Haru's which was resting between them. "I _care_ about you."

Haru was torn between staring at their touching hands or trying to get the Uchiha to look at him. "You... you what?"

Gaining a surge of courage, Ryūko looked up and into Haru's green eyes. "I. Like. You. I have for a long time."

"Oh..."

"Oh?"

"This has never happened before," the girl in front of him raised an eyebrow. "What I mean is, I've imagined this happening before in my head. Multiple times. They usually ended with me getting punched, stabbed, kicked in the balls or straight up death. Not... not this."

"Really? You never thought I could return your feelings?"

"Never."

"Never?"

"_Never_. I honestly thought you had a thing for Ino."

"Ino? Seriously? I barely know her."

"Yeah but you seemed interested at the Chūnin Exams."

"I did? Hm. Well, I didn't mean to seem that way."

"And you two were together in the hospital."

"She came to see me," Haru looked away and thought for a few moments.

"She likes you."

"No she doesn't."

"Um, yeah she does

"Nope."

"Yup."

"Haru, no. She likes Sasuke."

"Ryūko, yes. She doesn't anymore."

"Oh just shut up," the Uchiha rolled her eyes again before scooting closer to the Nakahara so she could rest her head against his shoulder. "If she does, then she'll get over it soon and go back to liking Sasuke once he's back in Konoha."

Haru didn't respond. Instead, he wrapped his arm around Ryūko's shoulder. When he began to giggle, the kunoichi looked up at him and asked, "What?"

"You've liked me for a long time, huh?"

"Shut up."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I couldn't afford to distract myself from protecting Sasuke. Now that he's gone..."

"Hey, look at me," Ryūko did as he asked. "Don't think about that, okay? We'll get him back."

"'We'?"

"I'm gonna help you! Don't worry, Pumpkin Sparkle, we can drag his ass back to the village. Together."

The kunoichi smiled. "Thanks, Haru."

"No need to thank me. I'd follow you into Hell if that's where you had to go," the boy grinned.

"Baka... go back to your tent and sleep. Anko-sensei will rip out our intestines and play Jump Rope with them if she catches you here," Ryūko lifted her head from Haru's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Oh well. I'll see ya later, Pumpkin Sparkle," the shinobi stood up and stretched. He was about to run down the tree when a hand gripped his own, stopping him. "Huh?" the Nakahara turned around just as the Uchiha finished getting up.

"Haru, thanks for coming to see me."

"Of course! I'd do anything for you. Don't forget that," the blond hadn't realised it before, but he and his teammate were standing very close together. His throat immediately dried up, and Ryūko seemed to be experienced the same thing. So instead of using his words, he merely glanced down, as if asking for permission. The Uchiha, like the Nakahara, didn't trust herself to speak without messing up, so she answered his request by leaning forward.

Haru swallowed, trying to fix his dried throat, before he too leaned forward. When there was only a millimetre of distance between them, the two Genin closed their eyes. In that second, it was like all of the shinobi's prayers had been answered.

Ryūko could swear her heart was going to explode from her chest. The beating was relentless, and she knew that if it didn't stop, Haru would be able to hear it too. If he couldn't already. His lips were slightly chapped, but not rough or uncomfortable. They were exactly what she expected them to be.

She almost jumped when she felt Haru's hand cup her cheek. It was warm and smooth, so he must have taken off his glove without her noticing. The Uchiha leaned into her teammate's hand, and when he placed his other gently on her waist, she lifted her arms to wrap them around his shoulders.

It felt like hours had gone by when they finally pulled apart, but in reality it had only been seconds. Instead of opening their eyes, the two kept them closed and pressed their foreheads against each other's. Haru was the first to speak.

"Wow. That was... perfect."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Do you?"

"Yes. I'm glad it was my first kiss."

"So am I. Honestly, I was terrified. I thought I was going to screw it up."

"Me too..." the Genin stood there in silence for a while, just holding onto each other and taking in the moment while it lasted. But unfortunately, it had to be cut short. "Haru, I have to go back to keeping watch," Ryūko let her arms drop as she stepped back. Haru did the same.

"Yeah... one more thing before I go."

"Hm?"

"Ryūko, will you be my gi-" he was stopped by a finger being placed over his lips.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but we can't lose focus right now. This mission is what's important. Ask me when we get back, okay?"

The blond smiled sadly, but he understood. They were ninja, and ninja always put the mission first. "All right. I'll see you later. Stay safe," he said, then proceeded to walk down the side of the tree.

"I will. Later, Haru."

* * *

_[The Next Morning]_

The team of nine were back on track, jumping at full speed through the trees. They were kind of in a formation, with Team 7 at the front, Ino and Anko in the middle and Team 4 at the back. In the last hour, Daichi had teased his teammates relentlessly, trying to get them to tell him what had happened last night. He knew Haru had left the tent at some point, but he didn't know why. Haru claimed to have just needed to pee, but the Hyūga wasn't easily fooled.

"You're not a very good liar, Haru."

"Or you're just not very good at recognising the truth."

"Daichi, he's telling the truth. I saw him get up and go behind a tree," Ryūko said.

"You're covering for him."

"You know I don't do that."

"Whatcha talking about?" Hideyoshi appeared between them. Haru yelped in surprise while the other two just smirked.

"Daichi's just being a jerk. So, nothing new."

"That's rude."

"Daichi-kun, Ryūko-chan, don't fight!" he placed his hands on their shoulders. "You're friends, and friends get along with each other."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," the Hyūga smirked at his 'friend'. Before Hideyoshi could say something else, Naruto got his attention.

"Hey guys! Kakashi-sensei says we're close. Hurry up!" the small blond was jumping up and down on a thin branch, threatening to break under his weight, just ahead of Team 4 and waving at them. The older team silently agreed to put off this conversation until a later time.

* * *

_[With Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto]_

"Don't shout!" Sakura scolded Naruto.

"Ah, sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto replied while looking away sheepishly. He should've known not to be so loud in possible enemy territory.

_'Baka...'_ the Haruno thought, however a small smile escaped and replaced her frown. Naruto could be annoying at times, but after the loss of Sasuke, he's matured some. Sakura knows that he's just trying to put a smile on everyone's faces.

Kakashi grinned under his mask when he caught Sakura's expression. She was finally starting to change her attitude towards her only remaining teammate. Maybe one day she'll stop hitting him.

_..._

_..._

_..._

Ha, not likely.

Her problems with Ino still have much to be improved upon, but other than their little dispute at camp, it hasn't affected the mission so Kakashi didn't deem it in need of immediate attention. In fact, he even encourages rivalry between ninja because in the end, it makes both of them stronger.

Thinking back, he remembers Obito constantly challenging him, hoping that someday he'd actually manage to beat him. To do this, the young Uchiha trained twice as hard every day, and although Kakashi wouldn't admit it to him, it also made him stronger. Both physically and emotionally.

The Hatake was so lost in his own mind, he almost missed the change in the environment. _Almost_.

When Kakashi's feet touched the next branch, he held out his right hand in a 'stop' motion. Sakura was able to react perfectly, landing right next her sensei while Naruto tripped and hand to grab onto the branch with his hands to remain above ground. Anko, Ino and Team 4 stopped just behind him. "Did you feel that?" the Genin in the group were puzzled by his question, however the Copy-Cat ninja wasn't talking to them.

Hideyoshi and Anko's faces were neutral for a second, like they were thinking, before they frowned. The Snake Mistress was the first to speak. "Yeah. It was like we passed through a waterfall, but without getting wet."

"A waterfall? What are you talking about?" Ino asked.

"Not literally, it just felt like we did. I suppose a more accurate term for it is a veil of chakra."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the platinum blonde was ignored. Instead of answering her question, Anko turned around. Nothing looked different, but everything _felt_ different. The forest even smelled damper.

"Should we turn back?" Hideyoshi asked.

"No, but we should send someone to check out the last few hundred metres. I'll-" Kakashi was interrupted by Naruto.

"I'll go!" and off he went.

"Naruto, wait!" Kakashi's words never reached the now orange blur.

"Theeeeeere he goes," commented Haru. Kakashi almost face-palmed.

Around thirty seconds later, the Uzumaki returned. Kakashi asked him if he found anything, but instead of getting a reply, Naruto looked at him dumbly before taking off again. This repeated a few times, and Naruto came back looking more annoyed every time. Eventually, Anko just grabbed the back of his collar before he could take off for the eighth time.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"I'm confused."

"Clearly."

"No, you don't get it. I was running in a straight line."

"Don't be stupid. If you were, you wouldn't have- Kakashi?" as Anko was speaking to Naruto, Kakashi ran past her and followed Naruto's path. He came back some time later, and when he saw his comrades, he sighed.

"Naruto's telling the truth. I just ran in a completely straight line without turning at all."

"How is that even possible, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked with a worried tone. Anko was right when she said this mission was weird. '_Bandits don't use genjutsu, unless they've hired a missing-ninja to help them, but that was unlikely.'_

"It's a genjutsu. Don't worry though Sakura, my Sharingan should be able to dispel it," the Copy-Cat ninja lifted up his headband, revealing the black and red eye. He turned and looked around, however nothing happened. "That's strange..."

"Maybe it's just a really strong genjutsu?"

"Maybe. Anko, Hideyoshi, help me dispel it using the genjutsu release seal. Ready?" when the other two adults lifted their hands into the appropriate seal, they nodded.

"**Kai!**" Kakashi, Anko and Hideyoshi shouted at the same time, but once again, nothing happened.

* * *

Boar, the Anbu squad leader, was naturally leading other three as they followed Konoha's team of nine. They had been around three minutes behind them all the way, and they never bothered to hide their presence. It was only fair that Kakashi, Anko and Hideyoshi, likely the only ones that were able to sense them, knew that they were tailing them. "Cat, status update."

"Team Kakashi are still within my reach."

"Good. Maintain distance."

"Hai," [1] replied Cat, Bird and Rat. All four of them were wearing the standard Anbu uniform: black clothing, grey flak jacket, metal armguards and gloves and a porcelain mask that matched their animal codename. They also all had a wakizashi on their back, the exception being Cat. She had a full-sized katana instead.

They continued for a couple of minutes when Boar suddenly stopped.

"Boar?"

"Sh," the reply was quick, and the other three obeyed instantly. "I heard something."

Suddenly, darkness began to creep in all around them. The trees, bushes and leaves weren't so green anymore. Bird managed to catch movement out of the corner of his eye, but before he could shout, something reached out from behind Rat and grabbed his leg. "Rat!"

Whatever it was yanked the Anbu off his feet and dragged him down to the forest floor. From this height, all the bones in his body would break, so before that happened he used the **Kawarimi **jutsu to replace himself with a log. When he reappeared beside Bird, Boar ordered Cat to locate Team Kakashi, but she couldn't see them.

"What do you mean you can't see them?"

"I can't see them! It's like they've disappeared!"

"Cat, move!" yelled Bird. The purple haired Anbu immediately jumped to the side, narrowly dodging a swipe from whatever was attacking them. Instead, the branch where she was standing was cut deeply. "It's aiming to maim us, not kill us!"

"Are you sure? It tried to slam me against the ground," replied Rat as he jumped over another attack.

"That wouldn't kill you. We need to retreat, now!"

"Bird, behind you!" unfortunately, the warning arrived too late. Bird cried out in pain when his leg was pierced straight through. Before anyone else could react, the Anbu member was dragged away... _into the ground?! _The only sign that he was even there was a splatter of blood and cracks in the dirt.

"Oh shit, run!" yelled Boar. He didn't need to tell Rat and Cat twice.

The three Anbu fled from the area as fast as they could, reaching the brighter areas. Even when they thought they were safe, they still didn't stop. "What the fuck was that?" demanded Rat.

"Calm down and let me think. You saw what dragged Bird away, right?"

"Yeah it was like... like a plant."

"It was a tree."

"A tree? Are you kidding me? A _tree_ attacked us?"

"Clearly it's some kind of jutsu. We need to get back to Konoha, now."

"But what about Team Kakashi?"

"You heard Cat, she couldn't see them. They're probably dead, and I'm not risking anyone's life to find out," Boar ended that sentence on a harsh note, signalling that the conversation was over. Their mission was to tail Team Kakashi and get them out of danger if necessary, but there's nothing to get them out of if they're dead.

"What do we tell the Hoka- fuck!" Rat yelled out when he looked down. His foot, which had just touched another branch, had pierced a hole in the wood. Well, not really. It was more like the wood had opened up and trapped him there. Boar and Cat stopped and turned, and when Cat noticed her comrade's situation, she got ready to save him.

"No don't! Look at the tree, it's dark like the others. Don't touch it!" Boar ordered.

"But-!"

"He's right! Go!" Rat exclaimed. He pulled out his wakizashi and desperately tried to free himself, but it didn't harm it at all. Boar and Cat didn't stay to see their fellow ninja's fate.

"Keep going and don't look back, got it?"

"Hai!" Cat obeyed her superior, even if she didn't want to. Boar was constantly checking behind him to see how close the 'darkness' was, and each time it was getting closer and closer, although it wasn't fast. It seemed to be taking its time.

_'It looks like Rat is putting up a fight, that's probably why it's so slow. Hm...'_ thought Boar, however a few seconds later, the 'darkness' began to speed up. _'Damn it!'_

"Faster!" he yelled. He slowed down his pace while Cat picked up hers, and when she was a small distance away, Boar jumped and turned in the air so he was facing the 'darkness'. "**Doton: Doryū Jōheki**," [2] a gigantic rampart made of earth began to rise up from the ground, so wide that the ends couldn't be seen from where Boar was positioned. It was thick, at least twenty metres and it went higher than the crowns of the trees around him.

_'Hopefully that'll stop it for a bit,'_ he thought as he caught up with Cat. When she tried to turn around, Boar yelled at her and told her to just run, don't look back. _'There's no way we can beat this thing. Is it even possible to fight Mother Nature?'_

Just as things began to calm down, the male Anbu felt the 'darkness' closing in on them. And then, he saw it. The only branch he and Cat would be able to land on without falling to the ground was darker than the rest. _'Fuck me.'_

Before he and Cat landed on the branch, Boar grabbed the collar and hem of Cat's flak jacket and, with all his strength, threw her over the 'darkness'. To stop herself from falling, Cat pulled out a kunai and stabbed it into a nearby tree, and when she was stable she used her chakra to grip on with her feet.

Boar had already accepted what was going to happen before he even touched the wood, however in order to give Cat more time, he would fight. The Anbu turned around and landed on the branch backwards. Immediately, he felt the wood close around his ankles, but he didn't pay attention to that. Instead, he went through hand seals, pulled his mask up to reveal his mouth and shouted, "**Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku**!" [3]

A massive fireball expelled from Boar's mouth, covering a very wide area. The fire burned up all the trees in sight, only leaving smouldering remains. "Boar!" called Cat. Said man didn't say anything, he merely pointed. "But..."

"Go. That is my final command. **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu**!" [4] much smaller fireballs were shot from Boar's mouth. They landed on all the bits of wood that were beginning to darken. Before he could use another jutsu, a tendril of wood extended from the branch Boar was standing on and wrapped around his wrist so hard that it almost broke it. Little splinters dug into his skin, drawing blood and making him wince.

The man pulled out his wakizashi and began to chip away at the wood, but unfortunately it wasn't very effective. _'Damn it, it's probably infused with chakra. Maybe that's why Cat couldn't see Team Kakashi... fuck, I hope they make it out of here,'_ Boar thought as he pulled out an explosive tag. _'Cat, you better have listened to me.'_

* * *

**A/N: I am so, so sorry for the long wait, but there was a lot of personal stuff going on in my life and a bunch of problems I had to deal with. Anyway, I hope this is okay for a proper introduction to my original arc. As you can see, MOTHER NATURE FIGHTS BACK!**

**Well, kind of. The trees aren't attacking the Anbu voluntarily cause trees can't do that, it's the 'darkness'. The 'darkness' is a part of something bigger, which will be revealed eventually and why Bird and Rat were taken alive will also be revealed. Poor Boar, he made such a noble sacrifice.**

**As some of you may have recognised, Cat is Yūgao, that purple haired lady (not to be mistaken with Anko). Although she hasn't really been explored much (especially not in the manga), we do know that she is skilled in kenjutsu (that's why I gave her a katana and not a wakizashi) and she is also a very skilled sensory ninja. In fact, it's because of her sensory skills and kenjutsu talents that she became a part of Anbu.**

**I know for a fact that Boar and Bird are also canon members of Anbu (not sure about Rat, I just made him up), however I don't remember their personalities ever being shown or their skills (they probably have, I just can't remember), therefore I made them up. Doesn't really matter now though cause they're gone.**

**Well, kind of gone. They won't be alive for much longer, although Boar is genuinely dead now. **

_**He went boom**_

**Anyway, onto other things: Ryūko and Haru.**

**Haru finally confessed and Ryūko returned his feelings. Surprise! How many of you thought that it would happen? And they shared their first kiss.**

**I'm sorry if the kiss was crappy, but it's my FIRST time writing any kind of romantic scene at all. That's right, the very first, so I'm completely new to it. I'm not really a romantic person myself, so I found it a bit awkward to write out a kiss scene, but I hope it was okay? Decent? Meh? Let me know.**

**Keep in mind: ****Ryūko does NOT have any romantic feelings towards Ino!**

**As for the 'veil of chakra', that's gonna be explained later on, but basically it was just the team entering a very powerful genjutsu. **

* * *

**Review Response:**

**mujoona: "****totally think that it should be ryuko/ino they're adorable plus imagine how much mind fuckery half yamanaka half uchiha kids could commit, and I know they're both girls but I'm sure there's a jutsu that can help or something."**

**Pffffffft, I can only imagine. With the Sharingan and the Yamanaka clan jutsu, they could cause a lot of havoc. Naruto would be proud. Well, Tsunade exists and I'm sure she's created some way to create artificial sperm from one female and use it to impregnate another.**

* * *

**[1] 'Hai' means 'yes'.  
[2] 'Doton: Doryū Jōheki' means 'Earth Release: Earth-Style Rampart'**  
**[3] 'Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku' means 'Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation'**  
**[4] 'Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu' means 'Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'**


End file.
